Shelley Berkley

Shelley Berkley is an American attorney and Democratic politician whose career has centered on Las Vegas economic development and the defense of Nevada's gaming industry. She grew up in the Bronx, moved to Las Vegas, graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of San Diego School of Law, and entered public life in the Nevada Assembly in 1982. She later served on the Nevada Board of Regents from 1990 to 1998, including two terms as chair.

Berkley represented Nevada's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2013. As a member of the Ways and Means Committee and co-founder of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, she became the gaming industry's most prominent congressional advocate. She opposed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, arguing that it pushed wagering to unregulated offshore sites, and she co-sponsored Representative Barney Frank's 2010 Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which would have created a federal licensing framework for online gambling.

She was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012, narrowly losing to Republican Dean Heller. After leaving Congress, she served as CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance from 2013 to 2021, leading regional economic development and diversification efforts. In 2023, President Joe Biden nominated her as Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; she was confirmed by the Senate and served in that role from January 2024 until January 2025.

Throughout her career, Berkley defended state-licensed gaming and the existing federal framework for horse racing, and she was publicly critical of federal reinterpretations of the Wire Act that threatened legal online wagering. No current professional role has been confirmed following her Commerce Department service.