Barbara Katherine Cegavske (née Jewson; born August 27, 1951) is an American businesswoman and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who is the former Secretary of State of Nevada from 2015 to 2023. She was a Republican member of 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 ...

, representing Clark County District 8
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from 2002 to 2014. Previously, she served in 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 1996 to 2001. According to her legislative biography, she was educated at

Mayo High School Mayo High School (Mayo) is a public high school in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. It is named after the brothers William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo, physicians and founders of the Mayo Clinic. It is a public school and part of th ...

in Rochester, Minnesota, and at Clark County Community College (now known as the College of Southern Nevada) in Las Vegas. With her husband, Tim, she was a

7-11 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founded i ...

convenience store franchisee for thirteen years before seeking political office. Cegavske is a member of the

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservatism in the United States, conservative state legislature (United States), state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share Model act, ...

(ALEC), serving as Nevada state leader in 2012. Cegavske successfully ran for the office of Secretary of State of Nevada in 2014, defeating Democratic state treasurer

Kate Marshall Kathleen Marie Marshall (née Soltero; born July 22, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 35th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party and was previously the Nevada state ...

. Cegavske supports voter ID laws and opposes same-day voter registration. She was reelected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, very narrowly defeating Democrat Nelson Araujo. With the defeat of several fellow Republicans in that election, Cegavske became the only member of her party holding statewide elected office in Nevada. After

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

won the 2020 election and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

lost while refusing to concede, Cegavske was censured by the

Nevada Republican Party The Nevada Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Nevada. The organization has a history that goes back to 1864. The party currently controls Nevada's Governor of Nevada, governorship, Nevad ...

for not having conducted an investigation into allegations of fraud and for "dismissive public statements regarding election integrity concerns." However, her office subsequently conducted a detailed investigation of the fraud claims, logging over 125 hours of staff time. On Wednesday, April 21 she announced to the Nevada GOP that she found no evidence to support the claims after of having reviewed 122,918 records supplied by the state GOP.

Electoral history

Cegavske was elected in 1996 to the Nevada Assembly from the Clark County 5th District.

References

External links

*
Nevada State Legislature – Senator Barbara Cegavske
–official government website *
Project Vote Smart – Senator Barbara Cegavske (NV)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' – Barbara Cegavske *
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campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Cegavske, Barbara 1951 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Nevada Legislature 21st-century American women politicians College of Southern Nevada alumni Living people Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly Methodists from Nevada Republican Party Nevada state senators People from Faribault, Minnesota Politicians from Carson City, Nevada Politicians from Las Vegas Secretaries of state of Nevada Women state legislators in Nevada 20th-century members of the Nevada Legislature