Pat Spearman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pat Spearman
President pro tempore of the Nevada Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office February 6, 2023
Preceded by	Mo Denis
Member of the Nevada Senate from the 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 7, 2012
Preceded by	John Jay Lee
Personal details
Born	1955 (age 69–70) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Norfolk State University (BA) Seminary of the Southwest (MDiv)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1977–2007
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	Military Police Corps

Patricia Ann Spearman (born 1955) is an American pastor, a military veteran, and a Democratic politician. She is from North Las Vegas, Nevada. In November 2012, she was elected to the Nevada Senate. She represents District 1, which includes parts of North Las Vegas.

Before becoming a senator, Pat Spearman served in the United States Army for 29 years. She reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. She was also a pastor and held several public service jobs. One of these was being president of the school district in San Marcos, Texas.

Early Life and Education

Pat Spearman was born in 1955 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her father was a traveling pastor, so her family moved often. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Norfolk State University. She also received a Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest.

While in the army, she studied at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute. She also attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College. In 2012, while running for the Senate, she was working on another degree online.

Military and Public Service

Pat Spearman served in the Military Police Corps of the U.S. Army from 1977 to 2007. She rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 2004, she received the honorary title of Kentucky colonel.

In the 1980s and 1990s, she held several public service roles in San Marcos, Texas. She was the chair of an advisory council for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She also served on the board of a local charity. She was a member of a committee that selected people for Military Academies.

In 1991, she joined the board of the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District. Six months later, she became the board president. In the early 1990s, she was also a pastor at Jackson Chapel, a United Methodist church in San Marcos.

From 2001 to 2005, Spearman taught at the University of Louisville. She was a lecturer and directed the multicultural center there. After moving to Las Vegas in 2005, she started her own church, Resurrection Faith Community Ministries. She also volunteered for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008.

Nevada Senate Career

Becoming a Senator in 2012

In 2012, Pat Spearman decided to run for the Nevada Senate. She challenged the current senator, John Jay Lee. She believed he was not doing enough for the people he represented. Spearman was supported by groups that cared about social and environmental issues.

She won the primary election on June 12 with 63% of the votes. She called it "a victory for the people." In the general election, she ran against Gregory Hughes. Spearman focused on the importance of improving education in Nevada. She wanted to raise teacher salaries and make class sizes smaller. She also wanted to look at the state's tax system to help pay for these changes.

On November 6, she won the election with 69% of the votes. Her time as a senator began the next day. She became the first openly lesbian member of the Nevada Legislature.

First Term: 2012-2016

During her first term, Senator Spearman helped pass several new laws. One law made it a hate crime to target someone based on their gender identity. She also supported a change to the state's constitution to allow gay marriage. She added a part to this change to protect religious groups.

In 2014, she voted for a plan to give tax breaks to Tesla Motors. This was so Tesla would build a large battery factory in Nevada. She thought it was important for jobs, even though she had some concerns.

In 2015, she worked to pass a bill that would stop people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. This bill did not pass. She also strongly supported laws to ensure equal pay for women and minorities. She believed another bill on this topic did not go far enough.

Spearman also helped create a new tax plan for Nevada. She suggested a plan that would change how businesses are taxed. This plan was meant to encourage businesses to hire more people. The final plan, called the Nevada Revenue Plan, included some of her ideas. It was signed into law in June.

In 2015, she also voted for tax breaks for Faraday Future. This was to help them build a factory near North Las Vegas. She saw this as a big moment for her community, which had been affected by the recession. In 2016, she helped organize a ceremony after the Orlando nightclub shooting. She also joined a new task force to advise the governor on promoting renewable energy.

Re-election and Second Term

Pat Spearman ran for re-election in 2016. She was challenged by Arsen Ter-Petrosyan. During her campaign, she supported presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She gave a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, talking about LGBT rights.

She believed schools needed to prepare students for available jobs. She also said she would introduce bills about equal pay and voter registration. On November 8, she won the election with 65% of the votes. After her re-election, she became a co-majority whip, a leadership role in the Senate.

Final Term and Beyond

Pat Spearman was elected for her third and final term in the Senate in 2020. She could not run again in 2024 because of term limits. Michelee “Shelly” Cruz-Crawford was elected to take her place.

Committee Work

During her time as a senator, Pat Spearman served on many important committees:

• In 2013, she led the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections. She was also vice chair of the Government Affairs Committee.
• In 2015, she was on the Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee.
• In 2017, she chaired the Health and Human Services Committee. She was also vice chair of the Commerce, Labor and Energy Committee.
• In 2019, she chaired the Commerce and Labor Committee. She was also vice chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.

Personal Life

Pat Spearman is African-American. She made history as the first openly lesbian member of the Nevada Legislature. Before her, David Parks was the only openly LGBT senator in Nevada.