The Nevada State Legislature

The Legislature consists of two chambers: a 21-member Senate and a 42-member Assembly.  The most recent election for the State Legislature was in November 2018. To qualify for either the Assembly or the State Senate, a candidate must be at least eighteen years of age.

 

Nevada Demographic Background

The largest generations in Nevada is the Baby Boomer Generation, consisting of about 24% of the population.1,2 The smallest generation is the Silent Generation, consisting of about 11% of the population. About 50% of people in Nevada are White, 8.40% are Black or African American, 28.20% are Hispanic or Latino, and about 8% are Asian.3

Generational Breakdown of the Nevada State Legislature

About 20% of both the Nevada Assembly and Nevada State Senate are Millennials. The largest generations represented in the Nevada State Legislature are the Baby Boomer Generation and Generation X. On average, a Nevada state legislator is 51 years old.

 

Generations in the Nevada State Legislature

 

Generational Breakdown of the Nevada Assembly
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 8 47.62%
Generation X 20 19.04%
Baby Boomer Generation 12 28.57%
Silent Generation 1 2.38%
NA* 1 2.38%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of the Nevada Assembly is 49.7
  • The youngest member is 23/24 years old (Selena Elizabeth Torres)
  • The oldest member is 74 years old (John Cameron Hambrick)
  • Five individuals are Young Elected Leaders:
    • Selena Torres (23/24)
    • William McCurdy (30/31)
    • Howard Watts (31/32)
    • Sarah Peters (31/32)
    • Edgar Flores (32/33)
Generational Breakdown of the Nevada Senate
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 4 19.05%
Generation X 7 13.33%
Baby Boomer Generation 8 38.10%
Silent Generation 2 9.52%
NA* 0 0.00
  • The average age of the Nevada Senate is 53.4
  • The youngest member is 29/30 years old (Melanie Lyn Scheible)
  • The oldest member is 75 years old (David R. Parks)
  • Three individuals are Young Elected Leaders
    • Melanie Lyn Scheible (29/30)
    • Yvanna D. Cancela, age: 31/32 years old
    • Dallas Harris, age: 33/34 years old

Gender Breakdown of the Nevada State Legislature

A majority of the Nevada Assembly is comprised of women, with only 48% of the Assembly made up of by men. About 42% of the Nevada State Senate is comprised of by women. All the Young Elected Leaders in the Nevada State Senate and a majority of the Young Elected Leaders in the Nevada Assembly are women. Female legislators are on average almost 4 years younger than their male colleagues.

Gender by Generation in the Nevada Assembly

 

Gender by Generation in the Nevada Senate

Ethnic Breakdown of the Nevada State Legislature

About 70% of the Nevada Assembly is comprised of White/Caucasian members. A little more than 15% of Nevada Assembly Members are Hispanic/Latino. About 70% of the Nevada State Senate is comprised of White/Caucasian members, 14% is made up of Black/African-American members, and about 14% is made up of Hispanic/Latino members.Hispanics/Latinos are underrepresented in the Nevada State Legislature.

 

Ethnicity of the Nevada Assembly

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Nevada Assembly

Ethnicity of the Nevada State Senate

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Nevada State Senate

Partisan Breakdown of the Nevada State Legislature

A majority of the members of the Nevada Assembly (69%) and Nevada State Senate (62%) are Democrats. All of the Young Elected Leaders in the Nevada State Legislature are Democrats.

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Nevada Assembly

 

Partisanship by Generation of the Nevada State Senate

Notes

  1. The Young Elected Leaders Project collects and analyzes data on young elected officials across the country.  We define Young Elected Leaders as officials 35 years and younger. We define the generations following the Pew Research Center:
  • Generation Z: 1997-2012
  • Millennial Generation: 1981-1996
  • Generation X: 1965-1980
  • Baby Boom Generation: 1946-1964
  • Silent Generation: 1928-1945

2. Single Years of Age and Sex, 2010, US Census.

3. Geographic and Housing Estimates (Age, Sex, Race, Households and Housing, …) 2017, US Census.

This analysis is based on data from March 2019 and was conducted on August 10, 2019.

See the Young Elected Leaders in the 116th United States Senate