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Jacky Rosen
Jacky Rosen, official portrait, 116th congress.jpg
United States Senator
from Nevada
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded by Dean Heller
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Nevada's 3rd district
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by Joe Heck
Succeeded by Susie Lee
Personal details
Born
Jacklyn Sheryl Spektor

(1957-08-02) August 2, 1957 (age 66)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Lloyd Dean Neher (divorced)
Larry Rosen
(m. 1993)
Children 1
Education University of Minnesota (BA)
Clark County Community College (AAS)
Signature

Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen (née Spektor; born August 2, 1957) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Nevada since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the U.S. representative for Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2017 to 2019.

Rosen was elected to the Senate in 2018, defeating Republican incumbent Dean Heller. She was the only House freshman to win a Senate seat in the 2018 midterm elections and the only challenger to defeat a Republican incumbent senator in 2018.

Early life and career

Rosen was born on August 2, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois, to Carol, a homemaker, and Leonard Spektor, a car dealership owner who had served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Rosen's mother was of Irish, German, and Austrian descent, and her father's family were Jewish emigrants from Russia and Austria.

Rosen attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1979. While she was in college, her parents moved to Las Vegas, where Rosen moved after graduating. She took a job with Summa Corporation and worked summers as a waitress at Caesars Palace throughout the 1980s. While working for Summa, she attended Clark County Community College (now the College of Southern Nevada) and received an associate degree in computing and information technology in 1985. She began working for Southwest Gas in 1990 before leaving to open her own consulting business three years later.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2016

Jacky Rosen official photo 115th congress (cropped)
Rosen during the 115th Congress as a U.S. Representative

A former computer programmer with no political experience at the time, Rosen was asked by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, also from Nevada, to run in the 2016 election for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Republican Joe Heck. On January 26, she declared her candidacy for NV's 3rd congressional district. Rosen won 60% of the vote in the Democratic primary election and narrowly defeated Republican nominee Danny Tarkanian in the general election. She was sworn into office on January 3, 2017.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Armed Services
    • Subcommittee on Military Personnel
    • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
  • Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
    • Subcommittee on Energy
    • Subcommittee on Research and Technology

Caucus memberships

  • Congressional Arts Caucus
  • Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
  • Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
  • Problem Solvers Caucus

U.S. Senate

Elections

2018

Rosen was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2018, defeating one-term Republican senator Dean Heller to become the junior senator from Nevada. Her candidacy, announced on July 5, 2017, was endorsed by former President Barack Obama and former vice president Joe Biden. During the campaign, Rosen emphasized her support for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and criticized Heller's vote to repeal it in 2017. At the time, Rosen voted in the U.S. House against Republicans' attempts to repeal Obamacare.

Rosen defeated Heller, 50.4%–45.4%. Heller carried 15 of Nevada's 17 county-level jurisdictions, but Rosen carried the state's two largest, Clark (home to Las Vegas) and Washoe (home to Reno). She won Clark County by over 92,000 votes, almost double her statewide margin of more than 48,900 votes.

Rosen was one of only two non-incumbent Democrats, alongside Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to win election to the Senate in 2018. She is also the 37th freshman member of the U.S. House to win a Senate seat and the first woman to do so.

Tenure

117th Congress (2021–present)

Rosen was on Capitol Hill for the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. At the time, she was in the Russell Senate Office Building before being evacuated to a secure, undisclosed location. She tweeted during the attack, calling the event "reprehensible" and writing, "It's time for us as a nation to come together and denounce hate and violence."

Committee assignments

Personal life

Rosen resides in Henderson, Nevada, with her husband, Larry, a radiologist. They have a daughter. Before entering politics, she served as the president of the Congregation Ner Tamid synagogue, a Reform Jewish synagogue in Henderson. She has cited the philosophy of tikkun olam as a key part of her decision to enter politics.

Electoral history

2016

Source:2016 Nevada's 3rd congressional district election

2016 Nevada's 3rd congressional district primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jacky Rosen 14,219 62.2%
Democratic Jesse Sbaih 2,928 12.8%
Democratic Barry Michaels 2,218 9.7%
Democratic Steven Schiffman 1,237 5.4%
Democratic Alex Singer 1,207 5.3%
Democratic Neil Waite 1,055 4.6%
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jacky Rosen 146,869 47.2%
Republican Danny Tarkanian 142,926 46.0%
Independent American Warren Markowitz 11,602 3.7 %
Independent David Goossen 9,566 3.1%
Total votes 310,963 100.0
Democrat gain from Republican

Source:

2018

Source:2018 United States Senate election in Nevada

2018 United States Senate Democratic primary in Nevada
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jacky Rosen 110,530 77.1%
None of These Candidates None of These Candidates 10,070 7.0%
Democratic David Knight 6,340 4.4%
Democratic Allen Rheinhart 4,774 3.3%
Democratic Jesse Sbaih 4,538 3.2%
Democratic Bobby Mahendra 3,833 2.7%
Democratic Danny Burleigh 3,244 2.3%
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jacky Rosen 490,071 50.4%
Republican Dean Heller (Incumbent) 441,202 45.4%
None of These Candidates None of These Candidates 15,303 1.6%
Independent Barry Michaels 9,269 1.0%
Libertarian Tim Hagan 9,196 0.9%
Independent American Kamau Bakari 7,091 0.7%
Total votes 972,132 100.0
Democrat gain from Republican

Source:

See also

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