1. Early life

2. Education and law career

3. Nevada Attorney General

4. U.S. Senate
     Elections    Tenure    Committee assignments    Caucus memberships  

5. Political positions
    Environment  Gun law  Health care  Immigration  LGBT  Women's health  Myanmar  Cannabis 

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

Catherine Marie Cortez Masto (born March 29, 1964) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Nevada, in office since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 32nd Attorney General of Nevada (2007–2015).

Cortez Masto graduated from University of Nevada, Reno and Gonzaga University School of Law. She worked four years as a civil attorney in Las Vegas and two years as a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. before being elected Nevada Attorney General in 2006 to replace George Chanos. Reelected in 2010, she was not eligible to run for a third term in 2014 because of lifetime term limits established by the Constitution of Nevada.

Cortez Masto defeated Joe Heck in the U.S. Senate election in Nevada to replace outgoing Democratic Senator Harry Reid, becoming the first woman elected to represent Nevada in the Senate and the first Latina elected to serve in the Senate.^[1] She took office on January 3, 2017, and became Nevada's senior senator when Dean Heller left office in January 2019.

Early life

Cortez Masto was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, the daughter of Joanna (née Musso) and Manny Cortez.^[2] Her father was the longtime head of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and served as a Clark County Commissioner and as an attorney for the County.^[3] Manny Cortez, now deceased, and Harry Reid had a longstanding friendship.^[4] Her father is of Mexican descent and her mother is of Italian descent.^[4][5] Her paternal grandfather, Eduardo Cortez, immigrated to Nevada from the Mexican state of Chihuahua.^[6][7][8]

Education and law career

Cortez Masto earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in finance from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1986 and a J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1990.^[9]

She was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 1990, the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada in 1991 and the U.S. Court of Appeals, for the Ninth Circuit in 1994. She is married to Paul Masto, a former Special Agent in the United States Secret Service.^[10]

Her career includes four years as a civil attorney in Las Vegas and two years as a criminal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. She also served as former Nevada Democratic Governor Bob Miller's chief of staff.^[11]

In November 2003, Cortez Masto was named executive vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education. There was initial controversy because she was hired directly by the chancellor, and not the university system's board of regents; the chancellor indicated that the regents had previously recommended that he hire an assistant, and in December the board voted unanimously to approve her annual salary of $215,000.^[12][13]

Nevada Attorney General

In 2009, Cortez Masto's office launched an investigation against Brian Krolicki, the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Krolicki faced felony charges related to allegations that he mishandled the Nevada College Savings Trust Fund when he was state treasurer. During the investigation, the Las Vegas Review-Journal discovered that Cortez Masto's husband, Paul, planned to host a fundraising party for Robert S. Randazzo, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, four days before the attorney general's office was scheduled to prosecute Krolicki. Cortez Masto said she was unaware of the fundraising party.^[14] The charges against Krolicki were ultimately dismissed in Clark County District Court.^[15] The dismissal of charges against Krolicki was regarded as a political setback for Cortez Masto, who, according to the Las Vegas Sun, "opened herself to charges of politicizing her office and prosecutorial misconduct."^[16]

In 2010, Cortez Masto's office began investigating Bank of America, accusing the company of raising interest rates on troubled borrowers. Her office sought to end Nevada's participation in a loan modification settlement in order to sue the bank over alleged deceptive marketing and lending practices. Bank of America denied any wrongdoing.^[17] The lawsuit was settled in 2012 for $750 million for lien reductions and short sales.^[18]

Cortez Masto defended the state of Nevada's position in the lawsuit Sevcik v. Sandoval. The lawsuit challenged Nevada's denial of same-sex marriage as prohibited by the state's constitution and statutory law. After initially defending the state's same-sex marriage ban,^[19] Cortez Masto and the state abandoned their defense of the ban in light of a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.^[20]

U.S. Senate

Elections

Cortez Masto, who supports increased investments in renewable energy technology, was supported by the League of Conservation Voters.^[23] Cortez Masto was also financially supported by End Citizens United, a political action committee seeking to overturn Citizens United v. FEC, and pro choice groups such as EMILY's List and Planned Parenthood.^[24]

Cortez Masto won 47% of the vote (520,658 votes), with Joe Heck behind at 45% (494,427 votes). While Heck carried 16 of Nevada's counties and county equivalents, Cortez Masto won Clark County, home to over 70 percent of the state's population, by over 82,000 votes, almost three times her statewide margin of 27,000 votes.^[1]

She filled the seat of former Senator Harry Reid on January 3, 2017, becoming the first Latina in the United States Senate.^[25]

Tenure

Committee assignments

• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection
  • Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Energy
  • Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining
• Committee on Rules and Administration
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
• Committee on Indian Affairs
• Special Committee on Aging

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus^[26]
• Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues

Political positions

Environment

Cortez believes in human caused climate change and that the federal government should limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.^[30] She supports the growth of green jobs and increasing Nevada's reliance on solar power and other forms of clean energy. She opposes the use of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository.^[27]

Gun law

Cortez Masto is a gun owner. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has given Cortez Masto a "F" rating due to her support for gun control. During the 2016 election cycle, the NRA spent $1 million on an attack ad against her. She opposes allowing individuals on the terrorist watch list to buy guns, stating that allowing them to do so "makes no sense."^[28]

In response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Cortez Masto co-sponsored a bill with Dianne Feinstein to ban bump stocks. She stated that, although the bill cannot bring back the lives of those lost, it can be a start towards decreasing gun violence and mass shootings.^[29]

Health care

Cortez Masto does not support the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare).^[30] However, she does support improving upon the act, which she has called "imperfect." She has co-sponsored the Marketplace Certainty Act to bring more stability to the healthcare marketplace in lieu of insurance providers leaving the program.^[30]

In December 2018, Cortez Masto was one of forty-two senators to sign a letter to Trump administration officials Alex Azar, Seema Verma, and Steve Mnuchin arguing that the administration was improperly using Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to authorize states to "increase health care costs for millions of consumers while weakening protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions." The senators requested the administration withdraw the policy and "re-engage with stakeholders, states, and Congress."^[31]

Immigration

She supports the DREAM Act and allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain citizenship.^[30] She has spoken out against family separations at the border.^[32]

In April 2018, Cortez Masto was one of five senators to send a letter to acting director of ICE Thomas Homan on standards used by the agency when determining how to detain a pregnant woman, requesting that pregnant women not be held in custody unless under extraordinary standards after reports "that ICE has failed to provide critical medical care to pregnant women in immigration detention — resulting in miscarriages and other negative health outcomes".^[33]

LGBT

Cortez Masto supports same-sex marriage.^[30]

Women's health

Cortez Masto is pro-choice.^[34] In the 2016 election, she was endorsed by Planned Parenthood and funded by their action fund.^[35]

Additionally, she does not believe that companies can withhold access to birth control from women based on religious beliefs.^[34]

On February 25th, 2019, she voted against the post-birth infanticide bill in the Senate.

Myanmar

In October 2017, Cortez Masto condemned the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar and called for a stronger response to the crisis.^[36]

Cannabis

Cortez Masto has cosponsored the bipartisan STATES Act proposed in the 115th U.S. Congress by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Colorado Senator Cory Gardner that would exempt individuals or corporations in compliance with state cannabis laws from federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act.^[37]

See also

• List of female state attorneys-general in the United States
• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress
• Women in the United States Senate

References

External links

• [https://www.cortezmasto.senate.gov Senator Catherine Cortez Masto] official U.S. Senate website
• Catherine Cortez Masto campaign website
• {{DMOZ|Regional/North_America/United_States/Nevada/Government/Federal/US_Senate/Catherine_Cortez_Masto_%5BD%5D }}
• {{ CongLinks | congbio = C001113 | fec = S6NV00200 | votesmart = 69579 | congress = catherine-cortez-masto/C001113 }}

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