Speaking at the Northern Nevada Literacy Council adult education graduation ceremony last winter, Erica Roth knew what the graduates were experiencing.
Before she tried her first case in front of a jury, received her law degree or started her first job at a law firm, she had to accomplish the same task those graduates were celebrating. A little more than a year after the speech, sitting in the corner of a small Indigenous-owned coffee shop in her district, Roth said she ran for office to help people failed by the system and who might not otherwise have a voice in politics. And I take that very seriously. She said her father, an elementary school teacher, and her mother, a member of United Scenic Artists Local IATSE, taught her the power of collective action and serving others.
She attended schools in Carson City but after her father died, did not complete her high school graduation requirements. Eventually, Roth earned her high school equivalency degree, then went on to complete an undergraduate degree in sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law, focusing on public interest law.
Roth said the district is lucky to have a legacy of great lawmakers. She said her predecessor, former Assemblywoman Sarah Peters D-Reno , cared deeply about mental health and that she wants to carry that torch forward, including proposing a measure this session to help ensure people within the criminal justice system receive timely mental health treatment. She wants to start from a place of mutual understanding that everybody is working to make the community better.
From a very young age, she said her father — who was born in in Nazi-occupied eastern France — instilled in her the importance of community service and upholding the tenets of democracy. She said those values underscore her work. Roth said students receiving Opportunity Scholarships — income-based state scholarships for students to attend private or religious schools — should be able to continue in the program, noting that not doing so would be too disruptive to their education.
