Congressman Joe Heck files for U.S. Senate seat

U.S. Rep. Joe Heck filed Monday to run on the Republican ticket for U.S. Senate.

Heck, R-Nev., is running for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Heck announced in July he’s running for the office, one of a handful nationwide that Republicans could pick up in the November general election.

“I think the stakes are extremely large,” Heck said. “This is going to be a critical race determining who controls the majority of the Senate come 2017. That’s why we are very excited to try to put this back in Republican hands for the first time in 30 years.”

Heck, a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, is also a doctor who has worked as an emergency room physician.

Reid is supporting Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, a former Nevada attorney general.

Cortez Masto announced in April 2015 that she’s running for the seat. Active campaigning on both sides is already well underway.

Cortez Masto’s campaign on Monday announced it has launched her first Spanish-language television ad. The ad, titled “La Familia,” gives viewers a look at Cortez Masto’s background, including her family’s roots, her father’s rise from a job parking cars to leading the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and Cortez Masto’s work as state attorney general.

The Cortez Masto campaign last week launched its first statewide TV ad in English, a six-figure buy that’s running in Las Vegas and Reno markets.

Heck and Cortez Masto are by far the most prominent candidates of either party in the Senate race and the best-financed.

Plenty of others are interested in the job, too. The race has attracted 11 other Republican, Democratic, independent and third-party candidates. Democrats Bobby Mahendra and Liddo O’Briant have filed. Republicans who have filed include D’Nese Davis, Eddie Hamilton, Robert Leeds, Carlo “Mazunga” Poliak, and Juston Preble. Independent candidates Tony Gumina, Thomas “Tom” Sawyer and Jarrod Williams have filed. Independent American Party candidate Tom Jones has also filed.

Heck has been elected to three terms in the 3rd Congressional District, and his run for Senate leaves that race open.

The 3rd District goes south of the Las Vegas metropolitan area, covering Henderson and rural areas, including Searchlight and Laughlin.

Eleven candidates have filed for that seat in the past week: six Republicans and five Democrats.

The two candidates who filed Monday are Andy Matthews, a Republican and former president of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank based in Las Vegas; and Steven Schiffman, a Democrat, attorney and former Peace Corps volunteer.

The filing period for candidates ends Friday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1