Jon Herrera

**Jon Herrera** (born October 1, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer who serves as the 48th and current Vice President of the United States since 2017. He previously served as the junior United States Senator from Nevada from 2011 to 2017, the United States Representative from Nevada's 3rd congressional district from 2007 to 2011, and and a Member of the Nevada Senate representing the 5th district from 1998 to 2006.

## Early life and early career

Jon Herrera was born on October 1, 1962 in Henderson, Nevada. The son of Jorge Herrera, a welder and Catherine Herrera, a farmer his parents were prominent labor leaders in the state of Nevada with a number of political connections. He served in the United States Senate Page program during his junior and senior years of high school. Herrera received his bachelors degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1985 and his J.D. from University of San Diego School of Law in 1989, where he finished third in his class. Herrera passed the Nevada Bar Exam and practiced law for eight years, four as proprietor of his own firm.

In 1998 he was recruited by the Democratic Party of Nevada to run for the Nevada State Senate in the Henderson-based 5th district. Herrera unseated longtime Republican Senate Minority Leader Joe Rosen in a landslide victory. He served for four terms from 1998 to 2006, during his tenure he focused on the economy and education stating that those were the most important issues for legislators "who are looking out for middle-class working families,". After the end of his fourth term as a state senator Herrera announced his candidacy for Nevada's 3rd congressional district in the 2006 midterm elections.

## United States House of Representatives

State Senator Herrera was elected to Nevada's 3rd congressional district in the 2006 midterm elections defeating incumbent Republican Congressman Bob O’Dell who was first elected in the 2002 midterm elections. It was intended to be a "fair fight" district, and as originally drawn had a relatively equal balance of registered Republicans and registered Democrats. Herrera won by 50%–48% in the competitive district during a tough year for Democrats. During his tenure in the House of Representatives Congressman Herrera positioned himself as somewhat of a moderate Democrat. He continued his focus on education, introducing a bill to establish a "STEM Education and Training Account" to be used to create a STEM scholarship program, to support K-12 STEM education, and to ensure STEM capacity building at minority-serving institutions in 2008.

He also focused on achieving bipartisan solutions to issues such as veterans affairs and subsidized farming. Representative Herrera called for many reforms to the VA including requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide disability payments during any period in which an individuals disability is being adjusted for disabilities for which the Secretary has already made a decision of whether to provide benefits, extending the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care and counseling program for military sexual trauma to veterans who experienced such trauma during active duty or training, and extending the program of assistance support services for caregivers of veterans to include all caregivers. He called for the resignation of VA Secretary Russ Walker in 2011. He also voted in favor of the National Healthcare Act of 2010 that failed in the Republican-controlled House.

## United States Senate

Congressman Herrera declined to run for a third term during the 2010 midterms instead running for the United States Senate. He defeated incumbent Senator Rick Leavitt, a moderate Republican and former Mayor of Reno by 50%–47%. He was sworn in on January 3, 2011. In the Senate, Herrera was accused of flip-flopping on issues and was seen as moving his political positions and ideology increasingly leftward toward that of a more progressive Democrat since his election to the Senate. In both cases, his views were significantly defined by the respective constituency he served at the time—a moderate congressional district versus the more liberal state of Nevada. Senator Herrera supported gun control during his time in the Senate having had a mixed pro-gun rights record in the House. He also stated his support for a public healthcare option having previously opposed the idea.

As a Senator, Herrera pushed for stronger environmental regulations, greater consumer protections, education reform, immigration reform, and continued his efforts to get better care for veterans. In 2013, Senator Herrera introduced the Immigrant and American Worker Protection Act, the bill would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants by establishing a new visa to grant them the legal right to remain in the United States for the rest of their lives, and access to a Social Security number. After eight years, the holder of this visa would be eligible for a green card if they wanted to have one; they would first have to pay a $2000 fine for illegal entry. The bill also attempted to garner bipartisan support by eliminating the employer-sponsored component of the immigration system and replace it with a point-based "merit" system and reforming the L-1 visa program to require the inclusion of a Labor Condition Application in order to ensure job security for American workers. In 2015, Senator Herrera introduced legislation to ensure veterans, students serving in the armed forces, and their qualifying dependents can attain priority enrollment at four-year colleges or universities so that they can finish their degrees before their federal GI benefits expire. He said we must invest in and train our men and women when they return to their communities.

## 2016 Vice Presidential Campaign

On July 22, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, former Senator Mark Hollis of Minnesota announced that Herrera would be his running mate. The New York Times reported that Herrera was chosen because of his domestic and national security résumé as well as ability to connect with minority voters. Hollis introduced Herrera as his choice in a joint appearance at a rally at The Ohio State University in Columbus the following day. The 2016 Democratic National Convention nominated him their vice presidential candidate on July 27, 2016. In accordance with longstanding political custom in the U.S., upon being nominated for vice president Herrera publicly released his full tax returns for the last ten years. Herrera also publicly released medical records; his physician, Dr. Margaret J. Bauer, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress, wrote in a letter that Herrera was "in overall excellent health." In September he published a campaign book co-authored with Hollis, A Brighter Future And A Better America.

In Herrera’s preparations for the vice presidential debate in October 2016, Nevada State Representative Ruben Curiel played the role of Republican vice presidential candidate Carter Soto. Herrera was largely viewed as the winner of the vice presidential debate. Governor Soto was criticized for being too aggressive and interrupting. The Hollis–Herrara ticket defeated the Delaney–Soto ticket, winning both the popular vote by 51%–47% and the electoral college, by 297–241. Senator Herrera won re-election to a second term and won the Vice Presidency of the United States on the same day. Herrera resigned his seat on January 3, 2017 the first day of his second term and assumed the Vice Presidency seventeen days later.

## Vice Presidency

On January 20, 2017, at noon, Herrera became the 48th Vice President of the United States, sworn into the office by Justice Arne Michaels. Vice President Herrera became the first Latino to hold the office of Vice President of the United States. In the early days of his vice presidency, Herrera performed many ceremonial duties, including swearing in a number of cabinet members, White House senior staff and his successor in the Senate. Herrera sat in on calls by President Hollis to the heads of government of the United Kingdom, China, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. In April 2017, Herrera made a tour of the Asia-Pacific region. In South Korea, he condemned North Korea's latest missile launch. In Japan, Herrera met Prime Minister Yukimasa Tokuta and pledged to work with Japan, South Korea, and China "to achieve a peaceable resolution and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Vice President Herrera has also been described as the administration’s point man on immigration, meeting with congressional leaders and the some world leaders such as the President of Mexico. He was the head of the United States delegation at the 2018 Winter Olympics.