Heidi Seevers Gansert (born 1963) is an American politician, businessperson, and engineer from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

serving in 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 ...

, representing the 15th district since 2016. She served in 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 2004 through 2010, including as Republican leader, and as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Governor 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 ...

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

from 2011 through 2012. She is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Early life

Gansert graduated from

Bishop Manogue High School Bishop Manogue Catholic High School is a Catholic high school in Reno, Nevada. It is the only Catholic high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno and one of only two Catholic high schools in the state of Nevada. History The Catholic high s ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, in 1981. She earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in engineering from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

. Gansert worked as a management consultant for medical firms and a resource planning engineer for

NV Energy NV Energy is a public utility which generates, transmits and distributes electric service in northern and southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas Valley, and provides natural gas service in the Reno–Sparks metropolitan area of northern Nevada. ...

Career

Gansert was elected to the

in 2004, representing District 25 (part of Washoe County). She became assistant minority leader in 2007 and minority leader in 2009. Gansert opted not to seek reelection in the 2010 elections. When

, a childhood friend, won the 2010 election to become

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 ...

, Gansert led his transition team and became his

. She resigned from the governor's office in August 2012 and was hired by the

as a special assistant for external affairs in October 2012. Gansert was elected to the

in the 2016 elections, representing southwestern Washoe County. Her Republican colleagues chose her to be the minority leader of the senate in November 2022. In August 2023, Gansert announced that she would not seek reelection in 2024.

Political positions

Gansert has displayed a mix of moderate and conservative policy positions during her time in public office. For instance, in 2017 Gansert voted for a budget compromise worked out between Republican Governor Sandoval and the Democratic leadership of the Legislature, despite strong conservative criticism at the imposition of a tax on marijuana and a lack of funding for private schools. However, Gansert has also displayed conservative positions, such as her opposition to the decriminalization of abortion in Nevada, on the grounds that the

parental notification Parental consent laws (also known as parental involvement laws) in some countries require that one or more parents consent to or be notified before their minor child can legally engage in certain activities. Parental consent may refer to: *A pa ...

requirement and other restrictions should remain in place.

Personal life

Gansert's husband is an

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuously learn to care for unsche ...

doctor. Gansert participates in

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

s and

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

s. She and her husband have four children, and live in Reno.

Elections

*2016 After Republican incumbent

Greg Brower Gregory Allen Brower (born February 8, 1964) is an American attorney in private practice, former state senator in the Nevada Senate, former United States Attorney in the state of Nevada and a former member of the Nevada Assembly. He is a member o ...

's resignation, Gansert won the Republican primary election for Senate District 15 with 5,105 votes (56.91%) against Eugene Hoover. Gansert won the general election with 33,822 votes (52.96%) against Democratic nominee Devon Reese and another candidate. *2008 Gansert was unopposed in the primary and won the general election with 19,680 votes (60.16%) against Democratic nominee Robert Townsend. *2006 Gansert was unopposed in both the primary and general elections. *2004 After Republican incumbent Dawn Gibbons left the Assembly in order to run for Congress, Gansert won the Republican primary election for Assembly District 25 with 4,724 votes (59.32%) against Robin Levy and another candidate. Gansert then won the general election with 19,167 votes (66.58%) against Democratic nominee Dan Meyer.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Nevada Legislature The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gansert, Heidi 1963 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Chiefs of staff to United States state governors Living people Politicians from Reno, Nevada Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly Santa Clara University alumni University of Nevada, Reno alumni Women state legislators in Nevada