kirkpatrick“I’m elated,” Congressman Cresent Hardy (R, CD-4) told the Mesquite Local News after news broke that Marilyn Kirkpatrick had been appointed to fill the Clark County Commission seat recently vacated by Tom Collins.

As the representative for Mesquite and the Moapa Valley, Collins abruptly resigned the Commission seat he had held for 11 years on Aug. 10. Governor Brian Sandoval was responsible for appointing Collins replacement who by law must be in the same political party; in this case a Democrat.

Kirkpatrick (D) has represented North Las Vegas in the Nevada State Legislature for the last 11 years and would have been term-limited from running for the same seat again in the 2016 election. She was selected as the Assembly Speaker of the House in 2013 and the Democratic minority leader in the 2015 Legislative session.

Hardy, who served with Kirkpatrick in the Assembly during the 2013 Legislative session, remarked that “no doubt she’s the best pick for the job. She is all about people and issues. Marilyn is a good listener who will represent all factions of the county not just North Las Vegas. We worked together very well in the Assembly and I know she will work well with her new colleagues to represent everyone.”

Kirkpatrick is well-known for her work on taxation issues at the state and local level. In February 2012, then Mayor Mark Wier presented her with a Key to the City of Mesquite for work she had done to ensure the community received its fair share of excess Consolidated Tax Revenue (CTAX) among all other Clark County entities in the past years.

“Without the assistance – and insistence – of Chairwoman Kirkpatrick, neither Mesquite nor any other entity would have benefited as equitably as they did. Thanks to her leadership and determination, a solution was reached through the inter-local agreement process that may well serve as a model for the future,” Wier commented during the presentation.

According to media sources, Kirkpatrick had planned to run for Collins’ seat in 2016 when both would be term-limited from their current elected positions. Sandoval’s appointment supposedly gives her an advantage over other possible candidates. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross is also eyeing the County Commission seat in the next election.