Cathylee James filed Tuesday for the District 38 Assembly seat serving Storey and Lyon counties as well as parts of eastern Carson City and southern Churchill.
James, 47, is completing a four-year term on the Storey County School Board. She said she wants to see education made a priority in Nevada, including competitive salaries for teachers, smaller classes and more dollars going into the classroom for textbooks and supplies. She said affordable and accessible health care for everyone in the state is also important.
"I believe I can be a strong, new voice for rural Nevada," said James, a Democrat.
She is the daughter of state climatologist John James and sister of former state Sen. Mark James.
With a Republican majority in the district, she said she has a lot of work to do but said she is energetic and plans to convince voters she is the right choice.
James also said she has found in seven years living in Virginia City that "there are more Democrats there than you think."
She said her service on the school board has taught her "you can accomplish great things if you work together and keep communicating."
The said groups with widely varied opinions and beliefs can "reach common ground" and get a lot done if they keep communications open.
James will face Tom Grady, who won the District 38 seat in 2002 after Speaker Joe Dini, a Democrat, retired. Grady filed for a second two-year term earlier Tuesday.
