Jill Derby
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Jill Derby has served since 1988 as an elected Regent for the Nevada System of Higher Education. She served as the Democratic candidate for the open seat of Nevada's 2nd congressional district in the 2006 election. She served as chairwoman of Nevada Democratic Party until February 19, 2008 and is currently running for Nevada's 2nd congressional district.
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[edit] Biography
Derby was born in Lovelock, Nevada to a World War II pilot/rancher father. Her great-grandfather settled in Nevada at the turn of the century. In 1973, Derby married veterinarian Steve Talbot and has two children, Ryan and Tobyn. She studied anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno and University of California, Davis where she earned her doctorate in 1988.[1]
She worked as a health educator and training coordinator in Saudi Arabia. She has traveled through the Himalayas and been to Cambodia to the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat.
[edit] 2006 Congressional Campaign
Derby has had numerous supporters. CNN political anaylst, as the Reno Gazette-Journal reported, Paul Begala, who helped engineer Bill Clinton's 1992 win, said he was encouraged by U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to “stump” for Derby.[2] In July the Las Vegas Sun reported Derby raised $269,000, ending with nearly $514,000 on hand for her campaign.[3]
Secretary of the State of Nevada, Dean Heller won the Republican nomination in August to be Derby's opponent.
Derby was always fighting an uphill battle in her campaign to win a primarily Republican district. Although she did win the Democratic primary by default (no Democrat challenged her in the primary election), many claimed she had no chance of winning. When polls showed the race was tied, President George W. Bush came to Nevada twice to campaign for Jill's opponent.
On September 20, 2006 the Las Vegas Sun reported, "Heller was 8 points ahead of Democrat Jill Derby of Gardnerville. In a Reno Gazette-Journal-KRNV News 4 poll taken soon later with a 4 percent margin of error,18 percent of the potential voters were undecided."[4]
On November 7th, 2006 Jill was defeated in her run for US Congress by former Secretary of State Dean Heller. The race was close, but Heller managed to maintain a 5 percent lead winning 50% of the vote compared to Jill's 45%[1]. In response to her defeat Derby said "I got into this race to take Congress back, to restore the checks and balances that have been absent in our government, and get our country back on track to a brighter future. All that got accomplished in this election. We lost our battle but we won the war."
[edit] Democratic Chairwoman
On March 31, 2007 Nevada Democrats elected Derby as the next state chairwoman of the Democratic party. Derby will lead the party during the 2008 presidential caucus Jan. 19. Derby was elected after Tom Collins announced he would not seek re-election as chairman.
On February 20, 2008 Derby announced a second run for Nevada's 2nd congressional district.
[edit] Issues
She identifies as a moderate politician with a "unique understanding of the most significant issues of the day – from education to the Middle East." Her campaign focused on making health care affordable to combat the double digit increase in Nevadian family health care costs.[2] This also included lowering prescription drugs and overcome the prescription drug bill, which "Congress passed was by and for the pharmaceutical industry, not patients."
She also means to restore fiscal responsibility. She noted, "politicians have created runaway deficits with wasteful spending, pet projects like the Alaskan bridge to nowhere, and special interests tax giveaways like billions for the oil companies."[3] She promises to "restore fiscal discipline in Washington, support a balanced budget, and pay down the national debt.”
Her stance on the Iraq War has been that Americans should "win the war once and for all." She believes "career politicians in both parties have failed to craft a plan to win the war and get the job done. Now that we’re there, we’ve got to finish what we started, honor the sacrifice of our service men and women, and built a stable peace. I’ll stand up to leaders in both parties who claim we don’t need a plan, and hold them accountable for success. And I’ll stand up to leaders in my own party and oppose an immediate withdrawal."[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Derby joins congressional race
- ^ RGJ.com: The article requested can not be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (J7,20051208,NEWS07,512080359,AR)
- ^ Nevada incumbents pull far ahead in money race July 15, 2006
- ^ Bush to show support for Heller in Reno. Las Vegas Sun. September 20, 2006
[edit] External links
- Jill Derby for Congress
- Act Blue page for Derby
- Washoe Democrats
- Poll shows close contest in Nevada 2nd Congressional race Las Vegas Sun September 13, 2006
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