By Ray Hagar, Reno Gazette-Journal

Brian Sandoval, a former Nevada attorney general, federal judge and chairman of the Gaming Commission, was elected governor of Nevada in November 2010, handily beating Rory Reid of Las Vegas in the general election and former Gov. Jim Gibbons in the GOP primary.

Sandoval, a Reno resident who graduated from Bishop Manogue High School and the University of Nevada, Reno, inherited a state that led the nation in unemployment foreclosures and bankruptcies. He said during the campaign and after the election that job creation and economic development were his top priorities.

Now, Sandoval is nearing the end of his first year in office and has weathered a budget battle in the Nevada Legislature, his appointment of Dean Heller to Nevada’s open U.S. Senate seat, a court-ordered redistricting process and numerous tragedies that hit Northern Nevada. Reno Gazette-Journal political reporter Ray Hagar sat down with Sandoval for a one-on-one interview recently, looking back at his first year in office and looking forward to his future plans.

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