Freshman Orientation: Lori Rogich’s advocacy for her daughter informs priorities in Senate
Sen. Lori Rogich
- The freshman Las Vegas Republican replaces former Sen. Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas).
- She represents Senate District 11, which is located in a fast-growing area of the southwestern Las Vegas Valley, bounded by the 215 Beltway, Interstate 15 and Durango Drive.
- In the swing district, registered Democratic voters (nearly 30 percent) outnumber registered Republican voters (almost 26 percent), but nonpartisans make up a plurality of the district with about 37 percent of voters. Minor parties and other registrations make up about 7 percent of the district.
- Rogich defeated Harris by a slim 1.4 percentage point margin in the 2024 election, ensuring Democrats did not gain a supermajority in the state Senate.
- She is a member of the commerce, education and government affairs committees.
Profile
Sen. Lori Rogich (R-Las Vegas), 59, spent seven years fighting a legal battle with the Clark County School District on behalf of her daughter, who has disabilities and was not receiving necessary services.
The case set a national legal precedent protecting children who have conditions such as dyslexia, autism and auditory processing challenges. She said serving as a lawmaker is an opportunity to continue the journey she began when she started advocating for her daughter.
“The reason I got involved with the race is because I wanted to make sure everyone's voice was being heard, especially the families of children with special needs,” Rogich said. “As so many of us know, our school system is broken.”
Though the 2024 election was Rogich’s first time in the political spotlight, her husband, Sig Rogich, is no stranger to the political sphere.
Sig Rogich was the White House senior adviser to President George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1992 and the communications and campaign adviser to President Ronald Reagan and Bush and presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). In 1974, he founded R&R Partners, the largest advertising and consultancy firm in Nevada, running numerous state and local political campaigns in Nevada in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sig Rogich has also been the U.S. ambassador to Iceland, where he was born, and has a middle school in Summerlin named after him.
Though Lori Rogich faced attacks over her husband’s political ties, she has emphasized that it is “always unfortunate when a person implies that a woman politician is controlled by her husband.”
“I am a strong woman, and I worked hard for years to build a successful law firm, all while raising a family,” she said.
Along with her advocacy, Rogich is a regulatory compliance attorney focused on the cannabis industry. She moved to Nevada about 20 years ago and owns the Rogich Law Firm.
Rogich, who holds a law degree from Rutgers University, said the 12 years of school she underwent to finish her education while navigating life as a single mother gave her a greater appreciation for the sacrifice getting a good education takes. She said she views her role as a lawmaker through the lens of bipartisanship.
“It takes a bipartisan effort to make that change that many families want,” Rogich said. “In the end, we're all Nevadans. There are a lot of issues that are going on that we can agree on, and those that we can't agree on, well, we'll give it a good try.”
One of those issues where she believes there could be consensus is the denial of necessary medical treatment that can occur during prior authorization, which requires a health care provider to get approval from a health insurance company before performing services or filling a prescription.
Rogich said she wants to tighten time frames for prior authorizations this session and ensure procedures are timely — issues she heard about from her constituents and that she’s experienced firsthand.
In an interview during the election, Rogich said her daughter required facial reconstruction surgery and the insurance company blocked the surgery, leading to an arduous appeal process that eventually overturned the denial.
She said she and her husband had the financial means to fight for their daughter — who is now preparing to graduate from the University of Utah in May — but not everyone has those resources.
“Had she been my first daughter, I was a kid back then. I didn't have the education or the financial means to challenge [those decisions],” she said. “I just would have went along with what they said. And so that needs to be addressed.”
On the Issues
Room cleaning
Rogich made headlines for her decision to sponsor a bill mandating daily room cleanings in hotels and casinos to address the illicit cannabis market. The first-year Republican lawmaker reignited the contentious fight between Nevada casinos and the politically powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which endorsed Rogich’s 2024 election bid against then-incumbent Sen. Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas).
Health care
To reduce the uninsured rate, Rogich said she plans to introduce legislation allowing independent contract workers who receive health care from an employer to maintain that insurance even if they change jobs.
Rogich described the legislation as “a step in finding solutions for people who rely on multiple streams of income.”
Education
Rogich didn’t directly answer a question about universal free school lunches for students, something she’s avoided since the election. But she said she supports protecting students from being identified as people who receive free, reduced-price or full-price meals through any program.
“A student should not be denied a meal or given an alternative meal if the student has an unpaid meal balance,” Rogich said.
Elections
Rogich said she supports efforts to ensure ballots are received by Election Day. In her election this year, she said it took 10 days until a winner was declared in her race.
“If other states can manage Election Day results, then we can too,” she said.
Housing
Rogich said she supports continued discussions around changes to the state’s unique summary eviction process, which requires tenants to make the first filing in an eviction case.
“We need to ensure a balanced approach that provides support for both landlords and tenants, and results in a timely and fair resolution to disputes,” Rogich said. “This may include mediation proceedings and identifying tenants who may need rental assistance programs.”
Energy
Rogich said there are complexities in managing renewable energy development while conserving wildlife and upholding the rights of landowners.
She said legislators must implement projects with an understanding of their environmental impacts.
“We should have a collaborative process that benefits both the state’s renewable energy goals and landowners’ interests,” Rogich said.
Gun reform
Rogich said she supports policies that call for the mandatory prosecution of possession or attempted purchase of a firearm by individuals prohibited from possessing them.
Tax credits
As far as film tax credits, Rogich said she’s not opposed to tax credits used to incentivize businesses coming to Nevada as long as those businesses provide economic value.