U.S. Senate

Nevada’s U.S. Senate race marks the end of an era.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is retiring when his term ends at the end of the year. He spent 30 years in the upper house, rising to become the most powerful Democratic lawmaker in the nation.

The race to replace him has drawn national attention and millions of dollars in outside spending by super PACs. It has also drawn candidates U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., and Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democratic candidate and a former Nevada attorney general.

Polls indicate the seat could go in either direction, meaning it’s one that Republicans could flip to their side of the aisle. A Review-Journal poll of 800 likely voters Sept. 27-29 found that 47 percent support Heck and 45 percent support Cortez Masto and 8 percent didn’t know or answer. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In an election cycle with competitive Senate races elsewhere that Republicans could lose, the outcome of the race in Nevada could determine whether the GOP maintains control of the Senate.

JOE HECK

Heck said he has a variety of life experiences outside the Beltway that are relevant to the most important issues. For example, he is a brigadier general in the Army Reserve and has served in Iraq. He’s also a physician who has worked in emergency rooms, and has owned a medical consulting business.

“I bring real world experience on the issues that matter the most to Nevadans,” Heck said, adding his experience relates to issues that include national security, health care, jobs and the economy.

Heck has served three two-year terms in the House. Heck said his approach is to reach across the aisle and find Democratic colleagues to work with on legislation.

He supports immigration reform including a border security boost, a mandatory e-verify system and a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, those who came to the U.S. as children. He is open to proposals that would grant a path to legal status for others who are in the country illegally.

Heck also supports renewable energy projects and growth and doesn’t support penalizing the fossil fuel industry.

Heck stressed the importance of constituent services, such as his move to hire a Realtor to handle housing cases in his district after the Great Recession hit Southern Nevada.

“It’s not about going to Washington and passing bills or standing up on the House floor and making speeches,” he said.

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO

Cortez Masto said she offers a record of working together with Republicans and Democrats on bipartisan legislation.

As attorney general, for example, she worked to get sex trafficking legislation passed in the Nevada Legislature that targets pimps.

She was attorney general for eight years, from 2007 to 2015. She’s also a former federal prosecutor and former assistant Clark County manager. If elected, Cortez Masto would be the first Latina in the Senate.

Cortez Masto said people in Nevada, particularly those trying to survive on minimum wage jobs, need representation that helps them rather than giving billionaires and corporations tax breaks.

“It’s about focusing on middle-class families, working families that are struggling still, that want a voice in Washington,” she said.

Cortez Masto supports proposals for a minimum wage increase, comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, and bringing more renewable energy investments and jobs into Nevada.

Cortez Masto and her campaign for months has criticized Heck for backing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. It’s become a major campaign issue.

Heck changed his mind earlier this month, saying he can no longer support Trump in the aftermath of a damaging videotape and audio of a 2005 conversation Trump had about groping women.

In response, Cortez Masto has accused Heck of making a political calculation in a bid to preserve his political future, saying Heck had months to reject Trump as he made offensive comments well before the tape.

OTHER CANDIDATES

Cortez Masto and Heck aren’t the only candidates in the Senate race. The list also includes three independent candidates — Tony Gumina, Thomas “Tom” Sawyer and Jarrod Williams — and Independent American candidate Tom Jones.

Gumina said his “biggest push” is about education.

“I’d really like to see a big reform in our education process,” he said, adding this includes smaller classroom sizes and reduced administration, with standardized tests eliminated.

A family doctor, he said understands people’s needs. He said the penalty tax people are required to pay for not having health insurance coverage is unfair.

Sawyer, a retired railroad worker, said he would bring the perspective of someone who is not a career politician. His Christian faith played heavily in his decision to run, he said. He describes himself as conservative. He said the country was founded on Judeo-Christian values and needs reforms, including to the welfare system so it isn’t abused.

Asked how he’ll stand out in an election with well-funded prominent opponents in major political parties, Sawyer said: “I’m in this because I feel that God’s placed me to do this and he’s got more money than both of them.”

Jones and Williams couldn’t be reached for comment.

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