Bio
Mayor, City of Las Vegas
Mayor Shelley Berkley was elected by the people of Las Vegas in November 2024.
Prior to taking office as mayor, she served as senior vice president of the Touro University system. Before this, she held the positions of CEO and senior provost at Touro University Western Division for a period of eight-and-a-half years.
As part of her lifelong dedication to the people of Nevada, Shelley served the State in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2013. She was the first woman to serve the District and held the position for seven terms.
During her 14 years in Congress, Shelley served on the Transportation Committee, Small Business Committee, Veterans Affairs Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, and the powerful Ways and Means Committee (healthcare subcommittee).
Among Shelley’s proudest accomplishments during her time in Congress was building the new Veterans Administration medical complex in Southern Nevada to provide quality healthcare to the veterans in our community. She sponsored or co-sponsored 114 pieces of legislation related to healthcare and was a vocal supporter of providing more funding for graduate medical education (residencies), and a vocal advocate of reforming our nation’s healthcare system.
She earned the title of “hardest working woman in politics” for her tireless work on issues that matter to Nevadans: Job creation, education, healthcare and renewable energy. Shelley was a champion for seniors, veterans, immigration reform, human rights, equal rights for women, and job creation.
Shelley also was known as one of the strongest and most outspoken supporters of Israel in Congress. She left her mark on every resolution, legislation, committee markup, and floor debate affecting Israel and the Middle East.
She was appointed chairman of the Transatlantic Dialog by the Speaker of the House. In that capacity, she worked with members of the European Union Parliament on all issues affecting the Transatlantic Alliance including peace in the Middle East, settlements, Jerusalem, Iran, Syria, and the rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe.
Berkley has called Las Vegas home for over 50 years. After graduating from Las Vegas public schools, Shelley was the first person in her family to go to college, attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she served as Student Body President and graduated with honors with a degree in political science. She worked her way through college and law school as a waitress, cocktail waitress, and keno runner.
Shelley served in the Nevada State Legislature, working to strengthen consumer protection laws and to crack down on drunk driving. She created the Senior Law Project and wrote the Lemon Law which protects new car owners from defective vehicles. Both programs continue to this day.
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