Selena La Rue Hatch, a teacher who is running as a Democrat to keep her Assembly District 25 seat in what could be a competitive November showdown, remembers distinctly what made her run in the first place.
Roe v. Wade had just been overturned, the skies were black with smoke from ferocious forest fires, her child couldn’t go outside and she was teaching up to 45 students in her high school classes.
“I just felt like we were facing so many crises, so many fronts, and it felt like we were kind of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, but not really making the systemic changes that we needed. And so I decided to get involved. I was going to protest and I was working through my union and I just felt like we weren't making the changes we needed,” she explained to Our Town Reno during a recent phone interview.
“And so I decided, you know what? If I'm not making a difference from outside the building, so let me run and get inside the building and let me bring my students voices with me,” she said.
She’s proud of accomplishments made during the last legislative session in Carson City, but felt frustrated by the many vetoes from Republican Governor Joe Lombardo.
“I think we passed some legislation that protects abortion rights, that protects LGBTQ students and citizens,” she said. “And I think that we passed really important legislation on housing and gun safety and environmental protections. The problem is a lot of those bills that I just mentioned were vetoed, and that's I think, really frustrating to go back to the community and say, ‘hey … I did all this great work. We got these bills passed, but unfortunately, you're not going to benefit because they got vetoed.’ And so I think that while we did make progress, there's still a long way to go. And I think that I'm going to keep working on those issues.”
This time around, La Rue Hatch is hearing from her constituents they’re still struggling with affordable housing, calling it one of the biggest challenges facing our community.
“I don't think it is something that one single bill is going to solve,” she said. “I think it is a multi-faceted issue. We have a huge shortage of housing availability and so I think we need to look at zoning laws, We need to look at how we build up rather than just out so that we are maximizing the use of our space. I also think we need to look at making sure that people have a fair shot of getting a home. I am very concerned at the number of out-of-state corporations that are coming in and buying homes with cash offers so that everyday Nevadans don't even have a chance to bid on their home. We have to provide protections so that our folks can afford a place to live.”
Portrait photo by Harmony Hildebrand shared with permission to reuse.
Reducing class sizes in northern Nevada is another goal of hers. As a world history teacher at North Valleys High School she experiences this problematic overcrowding first hand, with over 35 students in each of her six classes.
“The national average is about 15 students per class and I think at the high school level, the sweet spot would be around 25 students. You know, the problem with having 35 to 38 students in a class is a lot of behavior issues, [some] students want to perform in front of a crowd, other students get left behind because maybe they're not the bright star of the class or they are just kind of quiet.”
The state has been investing more in education, after being chronically underfunded for decades, but she says “it's not going to be a one session solution.”
Seeking the seat from the other side of the political aisle, Diana Sande, who works as a Health Communications Manager at UNR, got an early endorsement from Government Lombardo, something La Rue Hatch says voters should think about.
“I think that you have a governor who vetoes every single piece of legislation that is meant to address housing, every piece of legislation that's meant to address climate change, every piece of legislation that's meant to address gun safety, even a bill that's meant to get kids in school, that's what our free school lunches and breakfasts [are] to me … And so it is it is a community concern,” she said. “But there are a lot of candidates who support all of those vetoes. I think those are pretty extreme. And I think if you're a candidate that supports that, then you need to explain to the voters why you support those policies.”
Even though she’s an incumbent, she says she takes no vote for granted, and will work to speak to as many voters as possible in a swing district in a swing state with high national stakes as well.
La Rue Hatch who grew up on a cattle ranch near Pyramid Lake, before going to college at Boston University, then working on campaigns and volunteering for non-profits, says she had a sense of service instilled in her by her grandma who took care of her and ran a daycare for the kids of first responders.
“I just wanted to give back to my community in whatever way … And I always teach my students, you know, you need to follow your passions, but your passions need to serve others. You need to use your gifts to help other people, because that, I think, is really the purpose for all of us on this planet,” she concluded.