Las Vegas City Councilmember Victoria Seaman announced Monday she will resign her Ward 2 seat and is leaving Nevada for a post with the Trump administration. 

After six years in office, she announced she has been appointed to the position of U.S. Health and Human Services regional director based in Denver. The move comes as an abrupt surprise to some after she launched a campaign website suggesting she would seek a seat on the Clark County Commission, challenging Democrat Justin Jones, who has been dogged by an ethics case related to a housing development. 

Seaman, a former Republican assemblywoman who has a year left in her term representing  Ward 2 on the city council, lost the race for Las Vegas mayor last year to Shelley Berkley by about 6 percentage points. She was active in settling the nine-year legal dispute over the Badlands Golf Course, voting to pay $286 million to the developer. 

In her statement, Seaman said she would act as the department’s liaison to state, local and tribal governments and non-governmental organizations across Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

“While it is with a heavy heart that I step down from the City Council, I am deeply honored to continue my public service under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Kennedy,” Seaman said in a press release. 

The Health and Human Services Department announced the appointment Monday.