From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 14 min2016 - Present
2024
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Heidi Gansert (Republican Party) is a member of the Nevada State Senate, representing District 15. She assumed office on November 9, 2016. Her current term ends on November 6, 2024.
Gansert (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Nevada State Senate to represent District 15. She won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Gansert completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Gansert served in the Nevada Assembly, representing District 25 from 2004 to 2010. She served as the House Minority Leader.
Gansert earned her B.S. in engineering from the University of Santa Clara in 1985 and her M.B.A. from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1990. Her professional experience includes working as executive director of external relations for the University of Nevada, Reno, as a medical practice consultant, as treasurer/financial adviser for Brian Sandoval for Attorney General, and as a planning engineer for the Sierra Pacific Power Company.[1][2]
This membership information was last updated in March 2021. Ballotpedia completes yearly updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
Gansert was assigned to the following committees:
Gansert was assigned to the following committees:
While in the Nevada Assembly, Gansert served on the following committees:
| Nevada committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Labor |
| • Elections, Procedures, Ethics, and Constitutional Amendments |
| • Ways and Means |
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Nevada committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Commerce, Labor and Energy |
| • Legislative Operations and Elections |
| • Revenue and Economic Development |
The following table lists bills sponsored by this legislator. Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills sponsored by this person, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
See also: Nevada State Senate elections, 2020
Incumbent Heidi Gansert defeated Wendy Jauregui-Jackins in the general election for Nevada State Senate District 15 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate |
% |
Votes |
||
| ✔ |
|
Heidi Gansert (R)
|
51.8
|
39,325 |
|
|
Wendy Jauregui-Jackins (D) |
48.2
|
36,605 | |
| Total votes: 75,930 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
||||
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Wendy Jauregui-Jackins advanced from the Democratic primary for Nevada State Senate District 15.
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Heidi Gansert advanced from the Republican primary for Nevada State Senate District 15.
Elections for the Nevada State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on June 14, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was March 18, 2016. Incumbent Greg Brower (R) resigned from the state Senate on February 20, 2016. Jesse Haw (R) was appointed to the seat on September 27, 2016.
Heidi Gansert defeated Devon Reese and David Colborne in the Nevada State Senate District 15 general election.[3][4]
| Nevada State Senate, District 15 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | 52.96% | 33,822 | ||
| Democratic | Devon Reese | 41.92% | 26,773 | |
| Libertarian | David Colborne | 5.11% | 3,266 | |
| Total Votes | 63,861 | |||
| Source: Nevada Secretary of State | ||||
Devon Reese ran unopposed in the Nevada State Senate District 15 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Nevada State Senate District 15, Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | ||
Heidi Gansert defeated Eugene Hoover in the Nevada State Senate District 15 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Nevada State Senate District 15, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | 56.91% | 5,105 | ||
| Republican | Eugene Hoover | 43.09% | 3,866 | |
| Total Votes | 8,971 | |||
On November 4, 2008, Gansert won re-election to the District 25 Seat in the Nevada Assembly, defeating Robert Townsend.[7]
Gansert raised $350,929 for her campaign.[8]
| Nevada State Assembly, District 25 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| 19,680 | 60.16% | |||
| Robert Townsend | 13,034 | 39.84% | ||
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Heidi Gansert completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gansert's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My family and I have called Nevada home for four generations. I've raised my four children here and I'm deeply invested in our state's future.
I earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno and Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Santa Clara University.
Prior to serving in public office, I led a successful 20-year career in the private sector, including as a resource planning engineer and a medical practice management consultant. I currently serve as Executive Director of External Relations for the University of Nevada, Reno. In my role, I work closely with economic development agencies throughout the state to develop business and outreach partnerships between the University and the community.
I began my work in the public sector when I was elected to the state assembly in 2004. I went on to become the first female Republican leader in the history of Nevada's legislature. In 2010, I joined Governor Brian Sandoval's administration as his first Chief of Staff and served in that role as Nevada recovered from the recession. I was elected to the State Senate in 2016 and I'm seeking re-election to Senate District 15.
My priorities are protecting Nevada's children, promoting education and advocating for economic policies that generate jobs and opportunities for Nevadans.
Education is a top issue to me and I've a strong sense of responsibility when it comes to protecting our children and ensuring they grow, learn and thrive in a safe and secure environment. I passed legislation to implement Nevada's early warning system in k-12 schools called Safe Voice to make students and schools safer. In the first year, over 1,000 reports related to self harm, harm to others or suicidal thoughts were received. I also created a dual reporting system to make sure abuse in schools is addressed. I support efforts to ensure every student has access to an education that best meets their needs.
I also successfully passed legislation impacting public safety and healthcare. My efforts to make our communities safer have included strengthening child luring statutes and requiring DNA testing of convicted felons. I've also supported legislation to ensure pre-existing conditions were covered and increase behavioral health services for Nevadans while advocating for the modernization of our mental health system to increases its effectiveness.
I 'm determined to continue my efforts to advocate for the policies to improve the everyday well-being of Nevadans while promoting measures of accountability to ensure the government is acting in a transparent and fiscally responsible manner.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Gansert's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]
| “ | The former Republican Leader of the Nevada Assembly and Chief of Staff to Governor Brian Sandoval is running for Nevada Senate to bring accountability, fiscal responsibility and leadership to state government.[10] | ” |
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
| Heidi Gansert campaign contribution history | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions |
| 2016 | Nevada State Senate, District 15 | ✔ | $771,678 |
| 2008 | Nevada State Assembly, District 25 | ✔ | $350,929 |
| 2006 | Nevada State Assembly, District 25 | ✔ | $163,117 |
| 2004 | Nevada State Assembly, District 25 | ✔ | $188,138 |
| Grand total raised | $1,473,862 | ||
|
Source: Follow the Money |
|||
Gansert won election to the Nevada State Senate in 2016. During that election cycle, Gansert raised a total of $771,678.
| Nevada State Senate 2016 election - campaign contributions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top contributors to Heidi Gansert's campaign in 2016 | ||||
| Wynn Resorts | $20,000 | |||
| Las Vegas Sands | $20,000 | |||
| Nevada Trucking Association | $10,000 | |||
| Keystone Corp | $10,000 | |||
| Senate Republican Leadership Conference Of Nevada | $10,000 | |||
| Total raised in 2016 | $771,678 | |||
| Source: Follow the Money | ||||
Listed below were the five largest contributors to Heidi S. Gansert's 2008 campaign.
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Wynn Las Vegas | $10,000 |
| Nevada Association of Realtors | $8,000 |
| AT&T | $7,000 |
| International Gaming Technology | $7,000 |
| RAN Services | $6,000 |
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
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Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Nevada scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Nevada State Legislature was in session from February 1 to June 1.
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| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Nevada State Legislature was not in session. It was in special session from July 8 to July 19 and from July 31 to August 5.
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| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Nevada State Legislature was in session from February 4 through June 3.
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| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Nevada State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Nevada State Legislature was in session from February 6 through June 5.
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| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Nevada State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Gansert and her husband, Guy, have four children: MacKenzie, Kirsten, Glenn and Hank.[1]
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Heidi Gansert Nevada Senate. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
2020 Elections
|
Candidate Nevada State Senate District 15 |
Officeholder Nevada State Senate District 15 |
Personal |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jesse Haw (R) |
Nevada State Senate District 15 2016-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Nevada State Assembly District 25 2004-2010 |
Succeeded by - |