Gov. Steve Sisolak plans to appoint a former Southern Nevada high school principal to fill the post left vacant when former Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall took a job with the Biden administration.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Nevada Independent on Monday that Sisolak plans to appoint Democrat Lisa Cano Burkhead, a longtime educator in the Clark County School District, to the open position. It’s expected that she will run for a full, four-year term in the 2022 midterm election.

She is a former Spanish teacher and principal of Foothill High School in Henderson and Fertitta Middle School in Las Vegas. At Fertitta, she is credited with helping the school achieve a coveted five-star rating. She won the Nevada Association of Student Councils Administrator of the Year award in 2008.

She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature and Spanish, and previously served as a member of the Paradise Town Board. In 2002, she ran for a state Assembly seat but lost to Republican Walter Andonov.

Sisolak, who has the authority to fill a vacancy for the job, said he had received many inquiries from people interested in the appointment after Marshall announced her departure.

Having Cano Burkhead in the role could complicate the prospects of two other Democrats who have announced their intentions to run for lieutenant governor — Henderson Mayor Debra March and rural Democratic Party organizer Kimi Cole, who if elected would be the first transgender person chosen for a statewide office in any state. On the Republican side, candidates include Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony, former state Treasurer Dan Schwartz, businessman John Miller and Mack Miller.

Marshall left the post in mid-September to take a job as the White House’s senior adviser to governors within the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

The lieutenant governor’s responsibilities include chairing the state tourism commission and serving on several state boards. The person is also president of the state Senate, a largely symbolic role.

Updated at 10:19 a.m. on 12/14/21 to include John Miller as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.