Stavros Anthony, the Greek-Cypriot Lieutenant Governor of Nevada is more than just a politician. He is a man with a deep love for his community and country, as well as his Greek roots.
Born to Greek-Cypriots hailing from Paphos, Cyprus, his parents’ story echoes that of thousands of other Greeks who emigrated to the United States in the 1950s and made a life for themselves. Decades later, Anthony also maintains a profound connection with his heritage.
“We go back to Cyprus every year or every other year,” Anthony tells Greek Reporter. “We still have a small house where my mom grew up, which we renovated little by little. Nothing fancy but we have a place to stay. We bring my mom for about three months, [and] we stay for about two, three weeks.”
As an immigrant in the US, his father started off as a cook and ended up being a chef in Detroit, Michigan, where Anthony graduated from Wayne State University in 1980. From that point on, he was catapulted into the fascinating world of law enforcement, starting off his career that very same year as an officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Anthony retired after 29 years of service.
Having been a Las Vegas resident for 44 years, Anthony made community service and public safety a part of his focus during his law enforcement career. As a member of the Republican party, he then served on the Las Vegas City Council from 2009 to 2022, with an unsuccessful campaign in the 2015 Las Vegas mayoral election.
Despite this, he remained steadfast in his commitment to public service, and, two years ago, the opportunity to run for Lieutenant Governor was presented to him.
“I ran for that office, [and] there were six of us in the Republican primary, which means it was a run-off between me and my Democrat opponent who was the incumbent,” Anthony says. “I ended up being the only Republican Lieutenant Governor in this country to beat an incumbent Democrat Lieutenant Governor.”
Now two years into his term, he’s preparing for his re-election campaign in the coming months, once again counting on the support of the Greek community, which he says has been very supportive in getting him elected.
Politics aside, Stavros Anthony (born Stavros Antoniou) was raised in the Greek Orthodox Church. Along with his wife of over 40 years, he has been very active in the Greek Church, and he has served on the board of St. John Greek Orthodox Church and the Founders Academy Charter School, among others.
Stavros Anthony describes himself as “more of a constitutional conservative” rather than just a Republican.
“I believe that everything flows from the Constitution,” he says. “I believe that we need to take a more literal approach to the Constitution. We should read the Constitution and understand what it means, what the founders meant it to mean, what they believe should be our political organization structure here in the United States.”
“And then from that flows property rights, individual rights, individual liberty, capitalism. And the Republican party I believe flows more into that segment,” he adds.
From the moment President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2025, he has pushed ahead with a number of historic and controversial policies, ranging from tougher immigration laws to massive trade tariffs across the globe. According to analysts, he has been transforming the US economy, foreign policy, the federal workforce, and immigration enforcement in ways not seen in decades.
“What exactly is Trump doing? Number one, he’s securing the border,” says Anthony. “The Constitution absolutely says that we have to have solid immigration policies. He’s deporting people that are here illegally. Absolutely we should be doing this. The Constitution says that immigration should be done legally, through immigration laws. So those folks need to be deported. So I don’t see any constitutional issue here.”
Regarding Trump’s series of tariffs and ongoing trade war, which he says will boost the US economy, Anthony says that, right now, he gives the President the benefit of the doubt.
“Trump is a businessman. He’s done negotiations before, he knows how to use negotiations effectively,” he says. “So I am going to trust him in the beginning, to see how these tariffs go, where he places them, and where he doesn’t place them. And we’ll see how that plays out.”
At the same time, Anthony never forgets Cyprus. Speaking of Turkey’s ongoing unlawful occupation of the Mediterranean island since 1974, he says he doesn’t trust Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
“I think if the opportunity came up for Trump to negotiate a unified Cyprus…he would do it. And if Turkey tried something on Cyprus, I think he would be somebody who would defend Cyprus,” he concluded.
