Robert T. Beers (born October 14, 1959) is an American accountant (CPA) and member of the Republican Party. He was previously an elected member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the 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 terms from single-member distri ...

from 1998 to 2004, 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 pr ...

from 2005 to 2008, and the

Las Vegas City Council Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County, Nevada, Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave De ...

from 2012 to 2017. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for

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

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. In January 2014, he announced that he would run against Democratic Senator

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

in the 2016 U.S. Senate election, but he withdrew from the race in June 2015. In 2018, he was defeated for Nevada State Treasurer by Zach Conine.

Early and personal life

Beers was born in 1959 in Livermore, California. His family moved to Las Vegas when he was 11 years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School with high honors in 1977 and from the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

with distinction with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in 1987. His community activities have included volunteer treasurer for several organizations, including the Old Spanish Trail Association, Southern Nevada Clean Communities, Tonopah Historic Mining Park Foundation, and the Nevada Republican Party. He has also been president of the Las Vegas

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

Business Expo and President-elect for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Business Council. As a volunteer, he has created or maintained websites for over a dozen community organizations.

Professional career

From 1980-1986, Beers worked for radio broadcasting companies in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

and Las Vegas as News Director. In 1982, while working at KMJJ 1140 AM, he won "Best Miniseries" and "Best Newscast" awards from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in the AP's Medium Market California-Nevada-Hawaii division. From 1987-1989, Beers worked at an accounting firm called Laventhol & Horwath. Beers became a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

(CPA) in 1989, the same year he founded Las Vegas computer accounting firm Wilson, Beers & Alu. In 2002, he sold Wilson, Beers, & Alu to a large local CPA firm. From 2004 to 2007, Beers was the marketing director for an HR outsourcing firm. In 2009, he started an auditing firm called Seale and Beers, CPAs. He managed this firm until 2012. He currently consults business owners on their treasuries.

Political career

In 1998, Beers was elected to represent District 4 in the

, the lower house of Nevada's Legislature. He served in three regular and two special sessions. He was assigned to the Ways & Means; Commerce & Labor; and Elections, Procedures & Ethics committees of the Assembly. In 2003, Beers led a group of legislators in opposition to Governor Kenny Guinn's tax increases, citing concerns that they might damage Nevada's economy. After several special sessions, Beers' voting bloc failed and the tax increases were passed. The following year, Beers was elected to the Nevada Senate, defeating 20-year incumbent Republican Ray Rawson who had supported the increases. Beers served in the

for the 2005 and 2007 Legislative sessions. He served as vice-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and was also a member of the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Legislative Operations. In 2006, Beers and his supporters gathered over 150,000 signatures to put a

Taxpayer Bill of Rights The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (abbreviated TABOR) is a concept advocated by conservative and free market libertarian groups, primarily in the United States, as a way of limiting the growth of government. It is not a charter of rights but a provisi ...

amendment (called TASC for Tax And Spend Control) on the November 2006 general election ballot, which proposed that increases in spending greater than the sum of inflation and population growth require an affirmative vote of citizens. He ran for

in the 2006 election, but finished second in the Republican primary, behind U.S. Representative Jim Gibbons, who would go on to win the general election. In 2008, Beers was defeated for re-election to the Nevada Senate by Democrat Allison Copening. Beers sued for defamation, and the Nevada Democratic Party settled out of court in 2010. He held no further public office until 2012 when Beers was elected to the non-partisan Las Vegas City Council in a nine-way special election to fill the vacant seat of Councilman Steve Wolfson, who had been appointed Clark County District Attorney. He was elected to a full four-year term the next year. Beers declared in January 2014 that he was running for the Republican nomination for

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

to challenge Senator

in the 2016 election but he withdrew in June 2015. Beers lost reelection to the Las Vegas City Council in 2017, finishing first in the May 1 primary contest but losing the June 27 runoff to Steve Seroka, with Seroka winning 3,979 votes to Beers' 3,387 votes. The next year, Beers ran for Nevada State Treasurer in the

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

but lost to Democrat Zach Conine. In 2022, Beers ran again for Las Vegas City Council, but lost to

Francis Allen-Palenske Francis Allen-Palenske (born 1976/1977) is an American elected official in Las Vegas, Nevada. Early life and education Allen-Palenske was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, ca ...

, with Allen-Palenske winning 19,894 votes to Beers' 17,969 votes.

References

External links

Nevada State Legislature - Senator Bob Beers
official government website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Bob Beers (NV)
profile
Beers for Nevada
official campaign website {{DEFAULTSORT:Beers, Bob 1959 births American accountants Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Las Vegas City Council members Living people Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly Republican Party Nevada state senators People from Livermore, California University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni 21st-century members of the Nevada Legislature