After publicly mulling the idea for a few weeks, Democratic state Sen. Tick Segerblom says he’s officially jumping in the race for Clark County Commission.

Segerblom tweeted a photo on Monday afternoon of a $5,000 check from marijuana cultivation company CW Nevada and indicated it was his first donation for county commission. He confirmed the news in an interview with The Nevada Independent.

“I think it’s a logical next step for my political career having served in the Legislature in both the Assembly and the Senate,” he said. “We pass a lot of laws but we never get to see how they work. And I can actually have to deal with them and hopefully help improve them.”

The Democratic lawmaker, known as perhaps the most liberal member of the state Senate and its biggest champion of legalized recreational marijuana, will seek the seat held by termed-out Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani. She said she’s very seriously considering a run for governor.

Segerblom is halfway through the second of three possible terms in the Senate and won’t resign the seat, so if he loses the commission race, he plans to return to the Legislature. He hasn’t hired any campaign staff, but plans a formal announcement of his candidacy closer to Labor Day and has scheduled his first fundraiser for Sept. 21.

In Nevada’s decentralized political environment, he said, “local government really plays a much bigger role than the state does.” The commission oversees the Las Vegas Strip and a budget not much smaller than that of the entire state.

If elected commissioner, he said he’ll maintain his keen interest in marijuana policy. He chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee last session, where many of the 23 marijuana-related bills had hearings.

“I would hope I could help lead the discussion on where we goes next. It’s not going away, so I think we should figure out where it fits in our economy,” he said. “There are lots of issues we could help with, but I think mainly it’s just making sure people are safe but we maximize the amount of tax revenue we can get.”