Cortez Masto says Democrats ‘can’t take any community for granted’ after midterms performance

By Paul LeBlanc, CNN

Democratic Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, whose recent reelection denied Republicans the chance to control the Senate, said Democrats cannot take any community for granted moving forward.

“We can’t take any community for granted, and we have to not only constantly outreach, but we have to follow up and we have to engage and talk to them and listen to the issues that matter to them,” Cortez Masto, the first Latina senator, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “CNN This Morning,” when asked about the role of Latino voters in her successful bid for reelection.

Noting the changing demographics across Nevada, Cortez Masto added: “I think it is important that we’re always talking and engaging and listening to the issues that matter to them and letting them know who’s going to stand by their side and fight for them and their families.”

Cortez Masto’s reelection, which CNN projected Saturday evening, marked a critical victory for Senate Democrats, allowing the party to keep control of the chamber. The Nevada Democrat had long been viewed as one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents as she fended off a challenge from former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt in a state whose economy had been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation.

One of the biggest challenges she faced is that much of Nevada’s population is transient — meaning many voters had not gotten to know Cortez Masto or her record.

But Cortez Masto found support with what she called “kitchen table issues.” Throughout the campaign, she focused on Democrats’ legislative efforts to reduce Americans’ costs, including on health care and prescription drugs, while trying to tie her Republican opponent to “big oil.”

Cortez Masto also tried to remind voters of Laxalt’s history as one of former President Donald Trump’s campaign co-chairs and accused him of pushing an “extreme agenda” and the kind of conspiracy theories that she said fueled the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“To me, it’s all about working families, making sure we’re fighting for them always,” she told CNN. “And I think that’s an important message for so many people to understand in Nevada.”

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CNN’s Maeve Reston contributed to this report.