Joseph M. Neal Jr. (July 28, 1935 – December 31, 2020) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the previ ...

from 1973 to 2004, making him the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

state senator in Nevada. He served as Minority Floor leader in 1989 and as President pro tempore in 1991.

Early life

Born in

Mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Neal moved to Nevada in 1964 and earned a degree in political science and history from

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

Political career

Neal was inducted into the Nevada Senate Hall of Fame in 2005, a year into his retirement. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving state senator in the history of the state. In 2002, Neal ran unsuccessfully for

Governor of Nevada A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

Personal life and death

Neal married Estelle Ann DeConge in 1965 and together, they had 5 children: Charisse, Tania, Withania, Dina Amelia, and Joseph. Estelle died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 1997. Dina Neal served as a member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...

from 2010 to 2020, when she took her father's former seat in the Nevada Senate. Neal died on December 31, 2020, after a long illness. He was 85 years old.Joe Neal, Nevada’s first Black state senator dies
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References

1935 births 2020 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American state legislators in Nevada Military personnel from Louisiana Democratic Party Nevada state senators People from Madison Parish, Louisiana Southern University alumni {{Nevada-politician-stub