Nevada’s new governor, Brian Sandoval, took office Monday, and its longest-serving legislator resigned Wednesday.
Sandoval takes office after beating incumbent Jim Gibbons in the Republican primary, then coasting to a general election win over Democrat Rory Reid.
Sandoval is a former federal judge, state attorney general, and former chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission.
The Republican takes the helm of a state battered by recession and facing a multibillion-dollar deficit. He has pledged to oppose any tax proposals.
On Wednesday, Bill Raggio announced his retirement from the state Senate. The 84-year-old Reno Republican said he is leaving for health reasons.
After 38 years, Raggio is the longest-serving senator in the state’s history, and is likely to remain so thanks to the introduction of term limits.
Raggio was long seen as a deal broker in the Senate. He played a pivotal role in a tax package adopted during a 2003 budget crisis, and was seen as a bridge between Republicans and the Democratic Senate majority.
His fellow Republicans deposed him as their party leader this fall, after he endorsed Democrat Harry Reid’s successful re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate this November against Tea Party right-winger Sharron Angle, who unsuccessfully challenged Raggio in a GOP primary for his state Senate seat in 2008.
“If the state of Nevada had a Mount Rushmore for public servants, Bill Raggio’s image would be etched on its face,” Sandoval said in a statement.
The Washoe County Commission will name a Republican to succeed him before the Legislature convenes in February.
