Democratic Assemblywoman April Mastroluca will resign

April Mastroluca, a Democratic assemblywoman poised to play a key role in the 2013 Legislature, will send a letter to Gov. Brian Sandoval on Friday announcing her resignation.

The stunning move comes after the potential Ways and Means chairwoman decided, she says, that she could no longer serve because of what she described as family issues. She declined to elaborate, but she sounded shaken during a phone conversation.

I had been told by a couple of good sources that her employer, the national PTA, had told Mastroluca she had to choose between her job and her elected position. But Mastroluca said that was not so.

 "This has been a difficult decision," Mastroluca told me. "I have struggled with it for weeks. But I have to put my family first."

Mastroluca said she planned to send the letter to the governor Friday morning in advance of the Clark County Commission's deadline for posting next week's meeting. The commission will appoint a replacement.

Mastroluca has been in the Legislature since 2009.