The following is a transcript of an interview with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” airing November 3, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re joined by Nevada Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who joins us from Las Vegas. Good morning, Senator.
SENATOR CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO: Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We’re going to be closely monitoring your state and all six electoral votes. In this early voting, we have seen that half of Nevada’s active registered voters have cast their ballots, and there is some concern among Democrats as Republicans currently have a statewide lead. Are you confident that the remaining ballots will close that gap and hand the state to Harris?
SEN. CORTEZ MASTO: Well, Margaret, I can tell you a few things. First of all, I’m optimistic that we’re going to win, not just for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, but for Jacky Rosen in this state. I have absolute confidence in our ground game, in our research, in knocking on doors and talking to our voters, because that’s literally what this is about: making sure that our voters, who are paying attention right now in a swing state like Nevada, that someone to talk to them, because there is so much information available, and now is the time for us to connect with our constituents and talk to them about the issues that matter to them. So yes, I have a lot of confidence in it. And the only other thing, let me say this, Margaret, is, you know, I was recently reelected, and there was a Republican advantage in my race, during my midterm, and I won. Not only did I win, our congressional delegation won and so we won our state seats in our state house. So what we know in Nevada is really about that organization. It’s knocking on those doors. It’s telephone banking. It talks to our voters. We also have a large population of our voters who are nonpartisan. Well over a third are nonpartisan, and that’s the independents in other states, and they’re Democratic. They leaned towards me. And so I am very confident that as we work on our basic game, we will organize our way to victory here.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You met, you mentioned your victory in 2022, which was only 8,000 votes. So this could be a tight one this time too. The Trump campaign is talking about reaching the working class, especially on the economy. Your state has the second highest unemployment rate in the country. The majority of voters do not have a college degree. Why shouldn’t the Trump campaign be confident that they are reaching this important audience?
SEN. CORTEZ MASTO: Well, a couple of things, Margaret, you mentioned my tight race. They’re always tight in Nevada. It’s a swing state. They are always close by. It’s always within the ballpark, and that’s why it’s important that you get out there and talk to voters and don’t take anyone for granted. And you’re right: a large part of our population, our service sector, are people with a high school education. That’s my family. They worked in this industry, and these are the people we want to talk to, but we also involved them in the issues that matter to them. And if you look at our strong organized labor, which is the culinary sector, which makes up the majority of the service sector, along with our construction sector, they are knocking on those doors in favor of the Democrats, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. So there’s a real concerted effort from everyone to make sure that our voters understand who’s at stake here, and there’s a big difference. I mean, you know, let me just say, because it’s important for voters to know what Kamala Harris has already talked about: she wants to represent everyone. She wants to take everyone to the next level. It doesn’t matter who voted for her, she’s going to represent them. She starts the first day with a to-do list on how she’s working on the issues she knows many voters are facing. Donald Trump is going to walk into the Oval Office with a list of enemies. There’s a difference between the two, and when you talk to voters who expect that in Nevada, in a swing state, it makes the difference whether we’re going to win or not.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But does your party… We played what the current president, Joe Biden, said about Trump supporters, and some have compared that. Republicans have compared that to what Hillary Clinton said about a basket of deplorables. Does your party have a contempt problem with putting down especially working-class voters?
SEN. CORTEZ MASTO: Well, I can tell you in general here in Nevada. First of all, let’s say: but – we know this, President Biden has clarified his statement, and Kamala Harris has made it very clear –
[CROSS TALK]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, he quibbled about an apostrophe in the transcript.
SEN. CORTEZ MASTO: But Kamala Harris has made it very clear going forward that she wants to represent everyone, right? Whether you voted for her or not, and whoever you vote for, you should not be criticized for that. And she made that very clear. What I hear from Nevada voters, and this is where it’s relevant, not the spin rooms, not the polls, not what you hear on the national news, but what are the voters saying, and what are they? what they care about, and they listen. And I can tell you my constituents in Nevada that I’m talking to, which is actually a large population of not only our workers, but minority Latinos, aaa- excuse me, Asian American Pacific Islanders, a vibrant Black community, Indians. They listen to: what are the problems? Who brings the right solutions? Who has the solutions to address the affordable housing problem? That’s Kamala Harris. Who has the problems to address how we can reduce health care costs and keep them low for all Americans? Kamala Harris. Who has any ideas on how to protect the Affordable Care Act and not repeal it? That’s Kamala Harris. So those conversations are important to my constituents in Nevada, and ultimately that’s what’s relevant, and how we’re going to make this happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And your condition will be critical to monitor as well. Indeed, abortion is on the ballot, even though it is already legal in your state. There is talk of enshrining it in the constitution based on what happens on Tuesday. We follow that and what happens with your party. Senator, we have to leave it at that for now. Thank you. We’ll be back. Many more faces than nations, stay with us.
