2016 United States Senate election in Nevada

The 2016 United States Senate election in Nevada was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Nevada, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The state primary election was held June 14, 2016.^[1]

Incumbent Democratic Senator Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader and former Senate Majority Leader, initially said he would seek re-election to a sixth term, but announced on March 26, 2015, that he would retire instead.^[2][3] Democratic former State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican U.S. Representative Joe Heck in the general election on November 8, 2016. Heck won sixteen of the state's seventeen counties; however, since Cortez Masto won Clark County, which comprises nearly three-quarters of the state's population, she defeated Heck statewide by almost 27,000 votes, and became the first female and first Latina senator in Nevada's history. As of 2023, this would be the last time Washoe County voted for a Republican Senate candidate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Catherine Cortez Masto, former Nevada Attorney General^[4]
• Bobby Mahendra^[5]
• Liddo Susan O'Briant, instructional assistant^[5]
• Allen Rheinhart, Black Lives Matter activist and candidate for governor in 2014^[5]

Withdrew

• Harry Reid, incumbent U.S. senator^[2]

Declined

• Shelley Berkley, former U.S. representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012^[6][7][8]
• Lucy Flores, former state assemblywoman and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014 (lost primary for NV-04)^[9][10]
• Steven Horsford, former U.S. representative^[7]
• John Lee, Mayor of North Las Vegas, former state senator and candidate for NV-04 in 2012^[7]
• Kate Marshall, former state treasurer of Nevada, nominee for Nevada's 2nd congressional district in 2011 and nominee for Secretary of State of Nevada in 2014^[9][11]
• Ross Miller, former secretary of state of Nevada and nominee for Nevada Attorney General in 2014^[12]
• Rory Reid, former Clark County Commissioner, nominee for governor in 2010 and son of U.S. Senator Harry Reid^[7][8]
• Steve Sisolak, chairman of the Clark County Commission^[8]
• Dina Titus, U.S. representative and nominee for Governor of Nevada in 2006 (running for re-election)^[13][14]

Democratic endorsements

Catherine Cortez Masto

U.S. presidents

• Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States^[15]

U.S. vice presidents

• Joe Biden, 47th vice president of the United States^[16]

U.S. Cabinet members and Cabinet-level officials

• Hillary Clinton, 67th United States Secretary of State, 2008 presidential candidate and 2016 presidential nominee^[17]

U.S. senators

• Barbara Boxer, California^[18]
• Sherrod Brown, Ohio^[19]
• Richard Bryan, Nevada (former; also former governor of Nevada)^[11]
• Kirsten Gillibrand, New York^[20]
• Gary Peters, Michigan^[21]
• Harry Reid, Nevada^[22]
• Bernie Sanders, Vermont and 2016 presidential candidate^[23]
• Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts^[24]

Statewide officials

• Frankie Sue Del Papa, former attorney general of Nevada and former secretary of state of Nevada^[11]
• Kate Marshall, former state treasurer of Nevada, nominee for Nevada's 2nd congressional district in 2011 and nominee for Secretary of State of Nevada in 2014^[11]
• Ross Miller, former secretary of state of Nevada and nominee for Nevada Attorney General in 2014^[12]

State legislators

• Barbara Buckley, former Speaker of the Nevada Assembly^[11]

Organizations

• Bend the Arc Jewish Action PAC^[25]
• Daily Kos^[26]
• Democracy for America^[27]
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee^[28]
• EMILY's List^[29]
• Human Rights Campaign^[30]
• League of Conservation Voters^[31]
• Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, Peace Officers Research of Nevada, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Southern Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs^[32]
• NRDC Action Fund^[33]
• Planned Parenthood^[34]

Results

Results by county:

  Cortez Masto—80–90%

  Cortez Masto—70–80%

  Cortez Masto—60–70%

  Cortez Masto—50–60%

  Cortez Masto—<40%

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Sharron Angle, former state assemblywoman, nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and candidate for NV-02 in 2006^[35]
• D'Nese Davis, artist and teacher^[5]
• Eddie Hamilton, retired auto executive and perennial candidate^[5][36]
• Joe Heck, U.S. representative^[37]
• Thomas "Sad Tom" Heck, retired air force officer^[5][38]
• Robert Leeds, author, retired Merchant Marine and perennial candidate^[5]
• Carlo "Mazunga" Poliak, retired sanitation worker and perennial candidate^[5]
• Juston Preble, sales consultant^[5]
• Bill Tarbell, retired minister and candidate for governor in 2014^[5]

Withdrawn

• Bob Beers, Las Vegas City Councilman, former state senator and candidate for governor in 2006^[39][40]

Declined

• Mark Amodei, U.S. representative (running for re-election)^[41][42]
• Greg Brower, state senator and former United States Attorney for the District of Nevada^[43]
• Barbara Cegavske, Secretary of State of Nevada, former state senator and candidate for NV-04 in 2012^[43]
• Heidi Gansert, former state assemblywoman and former chief of staff to Governor Brian Sandoval^[44][45]
• Cresent Hardy, U.S. representative (lost re-election to NV-04)^[46]
• Steve Hill, executive director of the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development^[6]
• Mark Hutchison, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada and former state senator^[41][47][48]
• Ron Knecht, Nevada State Controller, former regent of the University of Nevada, Reno and former state assemblyman^[43]
• Brian Krolicki, former lieutenant governor of Nevada^[49]
• Adam Laxalt, Nevada Attorney General^[43]
• Michael Roberson, Majority Leader of the Nevada Senate (running for NV-03)^[47][50]
• Wayne Allyn Root, former member of the Libertarian National Committee and Libertarian Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in 2008^[51][52]
• Brian Sandoval, Governor of Nevada^[53][54]
• Dan Schwartz, state treasurer and candidate for NV-04 in 2012^[43]

Endorsements

Joe Heck

U.S. presidents

• George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States^[55]

U.S. senators

• Dean Heller, Nevada^[56]
• Mitch McConnell, Kentucky and Senate Majority Leader^[57]

U.S. representatives

• Mark Amodei, Nevada^[56]
• Cresent Hardy, Nevada^[56]

Mayors

• Carolyn Goodman, Las Vegas^[58]

Individuals

• John R. Bolton, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations^[59]
• Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, 2010 nominee for Senate in California and 2016 presidential candidate^[60]

Polling

Results

Results by county:

  Heck—70–80%

  Heck—60–70%

  Heck—50–60%

  Heck—40–50%

Independent American primary

Candidates

Declared

• Tom Jones, retired businessman and perennial candidate^[62]

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declined

• Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch (running for the State Senate)^[63][64]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

• Tony Gumina, physician and businessman^[5]
• Tom Sawyer, retired railroad worker^[5]
• G.A. Villa^[5] (not on final ballot)^[65]
• Jarrod M. Williams, veteran^[5][66]

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Hypothetical polling

with Harry Reid

with Dina Titus

with Catherine Cortez Masto

Results

Cortez Masto won her bid to succeed Harry Reid 47.10-44.67, or by 2.43%, running 0.01% better than Hillary Clinton.^[122]

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Mineral (largest municipality: Hawthorne)
• Washoe (largest municipality: Reno)

By congressional district

Cortez Masto won 2 of 4 congressional districts, with the remaining 2 going to Heck, including one that elected a Democrat.^[124]

See also

• Freedom Partners Action Fund
• 2016 United States Senate elections
• 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Nevada
• 2016 United States presidential election in Nevada

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. "Someone else" with 3%
3. "Neither" with 3%
4. "Neither" with 4%
5. "Someone else" with 3%
6. "Some other candidate" with 7%
7. Jones (IA) with 4%
8. "Neither" with 2%
9. "Neither" with 4%
10. "Someone else" with 4%
11. Jones (IA) with 3%; Gumina (I) with 2%; Sawyer (I) with 1%; Williams (I) with <1%
12. "Refused" with 2%
13. "Other/None" with 8%
14. "Refused" with 2%; Gumina (I) with 1%; Jones (IA) with 1%; Sawyer (I) with 1%; Williams (I) with <1%
15. "Some other candidate" with 6%
16. "Some other candidate" with 4%
17. Jones (IA) with 4%
18. "Refused" with 3%; Gumina (I) with 1%; Jones (IA) with 1%; Sawyer (I) with 1%
19. "Someone else" with 4%
20. "Some other candidate" with 6%
21. "Some other candidate" with 5%
22. Jones (IA) with 5%; "Other" with 1%

Partisan clients

1. Poll conducted for 8 News NOW.
2. Poll conducted for Breitbart News Network, a far-right news outlet.
3. Poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
4. Poll conducted for KTNV-TV.
5. Poll conducted for the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC dedicated to electing a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.
6. Poll conducted for End Citizens United.
7. Poll conducted for Cortez Masto's campaign.
8. Poll conducted for Democracy Corps, a non-profit organization associated with the Democratic Party.

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External links

Official campaign websites (archived)

• Catherine Cortez Masto (D) for Senate
• Joe Heck (R) for Senate
• Tom Jones (IA) for Senate