Shelley Berkley

Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley (née Levine; born January 20, 1951) is an American businesswoman, politician and attorney who served as the U.S. Representative for NV's 1st congressional district from 1999 to 2013.

Elected student body president of the Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas her senior year, Shelley graduated with honors in 1972, earning a B.A. in political science.

After obtaining her J.D. degree in 1976 from the University of San Diego School of Law, Shelley returned to Las Vegas and began her professional career.

Berkley practiced law for several years, mainly as a member of the legal counsel for several Las Vegas casinos.

She also served as the national director for the American Hotel-Motel Association.

Berkley served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was involved in civic affairs locally.

She also served on the Nevada University and Community College System Board of Regents from 1990 to 1998, and was appointed vice chair.

In 1996, U.S. Congressman John Ensign won re-election in Nevada's 1st congressional district with 50.1% of the vote, a 6.6% margin over Bob Coffin, the Democratic candidate.

The day after, Berkley filed papers to run in the district.

She raised $206,000 in the first six months and $410,000 in the next six months.

Berkley was Democrats' dream candidate, as she easily won the primary with 81.5% of the vote.

Ensign decided to retire in order to run against U.S. Senator Harry Reid in the very close and competitive 1998 senate election.

In the general election, she defeated Republican Don Chairez, a District Court Judge in Clark County with 49.2% of the vote.

Congresswoman Berkley represented Nevada's 1st congressional district from 1999 to 2013, serving seven terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district includes most of the city of Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip and the city of North Las Vegas.

She is the second woman elected to Congress from Nevada, the first woman elected to the 1st district and the first elected as a Democrat.

Berkley was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

She views her top priorities as affordable health care coverage for all Americans, veteran's rights and alternative energy.

Berkley is also strongly opposed to the building of a nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

In 2000, she won re-election with 51.7% against State Senator Jon Porter.

In 2002, she defeated Republican Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs with 53.7%.

NARAL Pro-Choice America gave Berkley a 100% in 2010, while the National Right to Life Committee gave her a 0% rating.

In 2011, Berkley voted for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 as part of a controversial provision that allows the government and the military to indefinitely detain American citizens and others without trial.

In 2012, she was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate.

She is a member of the Democratic Party, and is currently running in the upcoming 2024 Las Vegas Mayoral Election.

Berkley was born Rochelle Levine in New York City, the daughter of Estelle (née Colonomos – see Kalonymus) and George Levine.

Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jews and her mother's family were Sephardic Jews from Ottoman-era Thessaloniki, now in Macedonia, northern Greece.

Berkley moved with her family to Nevada when she was a junior high school student, attending Fremont Junior High.

After completing high school, she became the first member of her family to attend college when she enrolled as an undergraduate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

She became a member of Delta Zeta sorority.

Berkley announced in June 2012 that she would turn over all $11,900 in campaign contributions from indicted lobbyist Harvery Whittemore to the U.S. Treasury.

Whittemore was charged with violating campaign finance laws and misleading law enforcement.

Before pledging to give up the contributions from Whittemore, Berkley said that she was holding his contributions in escrow while awaiting the outcome of the investigation against him.

As of July 2012, Berkley had raised $4 million in contributions for her campaign to unseat Senator Dean Heller.

Heller had raised $4.4 million.

As a 6th term congresswoman Berkley was endorsed by a number of interest groups.

The themes of some groups endorsing Berkley included education, environmental protections, and gender equality in politics.

Berkley received endorsements from groups such as The National Education Association, The Sierra Club and The National Women's Political Caucus.

Berkley has been given various scores from a variety of interest groups.

These groups include topics ranging from abortion issues, agriculture, criminal issues, animal rights, budget and taxes and foreign aid.