--- title: Catherine Cortez Masto: Nevada Elects First Latina Senator description: Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Joseph J. Heck on Tuesday to become the first Latina in the U.S. Senate canonical: https://time.com/4564018/nevada-first-latina-catherine-cortez-masto/ author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-09T12:45:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:20.496Z article:section: Politics og:title: Catherine Cortez Masto: Nevada Elects First Latina Senator og:description: Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Joseph J. Heck on Tuesday to become the first Latina in the U.S. Senate og:url: https://time.com/4564018/nevada-first-latina-catherine-cortez-masto/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b34fade152b36f/6988adbaa988ca1d836ba174/catherine-cortez-masto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Nevada Senate Candidate Catherine Cortez Masto og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Catherine Cortez Masto: Nevada Elects First Latina Senator twitter:description: Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Joseph J. Heck on Tuesday to become the first Latina in the U.S. Senate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b34fade152b36f/6988adbaa988ca1d836ba174/catherine-cortez-masto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada Is U.S. Senate's First Latina > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Nov 9, 2016 12:45 PM UTC  Catherine Cortez Masto, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada, delivers her victory speech at the Nevada Democrats' election night watch party at the Aria Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas on Nov. 8, 2016. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada, delivers her victory speech at the Nevada Democrats' election night watch party at the Aria Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas on Nov. 8, 2016. Bill Clark—AP by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Nov 9, 2016 12:45 PM UTC Former Nevada attorney general, [Catherine Cortez Masto](https://twitter.com/CatherineForNV/status/796261544023625729), defeated Republican Joseph J. Heck on Tuesday to become the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate. The 52-year-old will fill the seat of Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the Democratic minority leader, who backed [Cortez Masto](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/09/a-silver-lining-on-election-night-first-latina-elected-to-u-s-senate/) and will be retiring after three decades in the Senate. Cortez Masto will join three other Latinos in the Senate — Sens. Ted Cruz, Robert Menendez and Marco Rubio, who kept his Florida seat on Tuesday. Cortez Masto is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, who focused her campaign on the future of Supreme Court picks before the Senate and immigration overhaul, the [New York _Times_ ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/us/politics/nevada-senate-catherine-cortez-masto.html)reports. As the news came in, Cortez Masto tweeted that she was proud to be Nevada’s first female senator. Latinos nationwide celebrated her win, with some Democrats calling it a “silver-lining” and the “tiniest speck of light” after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election. > [](https://twitter.com/CatherineForNV/status/796261544023625729) > [](https://twitter.com/audrakath/status/796260798356226048) > [](https://twitter.com/MsVanessaOchoa/status/796224774397513731) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4564018/nevada-first-latina-catherine-cortez-masto/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4564018/nevada-first-latina-catherine-cortez-masto/"},"headline":"Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada Is U.S. Senate's First Latina","datePublished":"2016-11-09T12:45:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:20.496Z","description":"She's also Nevada's first ever female senator","url":"https://time.com/4564018/nevada-first-latina-catherine-cortez-masto/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b34fade152b36f/6988adbaa988ca1d836ba174/catherine-cortez-masto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt49b34fade152b36f/6988adbaa988ca1d836ba174/catherine-cortez-masto.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nevada Senate Candidate Catherine Cortez Masto","caption":"UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 8: Catherine Cortez Masto, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Nevada, delivers her victory speech at the Nevada Democrats' election night watch party at the Aria Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas after defeating Rep. 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