Cortez Masto: Races ‘always tight in Nevada’

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) said on Sunday that races are "always tight in Nevada” in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“You met- you mentioned your victory in 2022, that was just by 8,000 votes. So this- this could be a tight one as well, this time around. The Trump campaign talks about making inroads with the working class population, in particular, on the issue of the economy, your state has the second highest unemployment rate in the country,” CBS News’s Margaret Brennan said in the interview. 

“The majority of voters do not have a college degree. Why shouldn't the Trump campaign be confident that they are making inroads with this key demographic?”

“Well, a couple of things, Margaret, you talked about my- my tight race,” Cortez Masto responded. “They're always tight in Nevada. It's a swing state. They're always close. It's always within the margin, and that's why it is important you get out and talk to voters and you don't take anyone for granted.”

"And you're right, a large part of our population, our service industry, those are high school-educated individuals. That's my family,” Cortez Masto continued. “They worked in this industry, and these are the individuals we wanna talk to, but we also have been engaging them on the issues that matter to them.”

Nevada is playing a key role in this year’s elections, both in the legislative and executive branches. 

“And if you look at our strong organized labor, which is the culinary, which is made up most of the service industry, along with our building trades, they're knocking on those doors in favor of the Democrats, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Cortez Masto said. “So, there is this outright concerted effort by everyone to make sure our voters understand who is- what's at stake here, and there's a stark difference.”

This year, incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is looking to hold onto her seat as Democrats hope to maintain control of the Senate, while Vice President Harris and former President Trump may need to secure the Silver State to win the presidency.

According to an average of Nevada polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump is leading Harris in the state by 1.8 percent, with the former president garnering 49 percent support to the vice president’s 47.2 percent support.

In another average of Nevada polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Rosen is ahead of her Republican challenger, Sam Brown, by 3.5 points, with the incumbent Democrat garnering 48.2 percent support to her GOP rival’s 44.7 percent support.

The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.