The 2016 United States Senate election in Nevada was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

to represent the State of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and various state and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

. The state primary election was held June 14, 2016. 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. Former Democratic State Attorney General

Catherine Cortez Masto Catherine Marie Cortez Masto (born March 29, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Cortez Masto served as the 32nd ...

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 2022, this would be the last time Washoe County voted for a Republican Senate candidate.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

, former Nevada Attorney General * Bobby Mahendra * Liddo Susan O'Briant, instructional assistant * Allen Rheinhart,

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

activist and candidate for governor in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

Withdrew

* Harry Reid, incumbent U.S. Senator

Declined

* Shelley Berkley, former U.S. Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012 * Lucy Flores, former state assemblywoman and nominee for lieutenant governor in

(lost primary for NV-04) *

Steven Horsford Steven Alexzander Horsford (born April 29, 1973) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 4th congressional district since 2019, previously holding the position from 2013 to 2015. A member of the ...

, former U.S. Representative * John Lee, Mayor of

North Las Vegas North Las Vegas is a suburban city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 216,961, with an estimated population of 251,974 in 2019. The city was incorporated on May 1, 19 ...

, former state senator and candidate for NV-04 in 2012 *

Kate Marshall Kathleen Marie Marshall (née Soltero; born July 22, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 35th lieutenant governor of Nevada from 2019 to 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party and was previously the Nevada state tr ...

, former state treasurer of Nevada, nominee for Nevada's 2nd congressional district in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

and nominee for Secretary of State of Nevada in

Ross Miller Ross James Miller (born March 26, 1976) is an American attorney and politician. He is a Democrat, currently the Clark County Commissioner for District C since 2021, the former Secretary of State of Nevada and 2012–2013 president of the Natio ...

, former secretary of state of Nevada and nominee for Nevada Attorney General in

* Rory Reid, former Clark County

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, nominee for governor in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and son of U.S. Senator Harry Reid * Steve Sisolak, chairman of the Clark County Commission * Dina Titus, U.S. Representative and nominee for Governor of Nevada in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

(running for re-election)

Democratic endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Sharron Angle Sharron Elaine Angle (née Ott; born July 26, 1949) is an American far-right politician who served as a Republican member of the Nevada Assembly from 1999 to 2007. She ran unsuccessfully as the 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat i ...

, former state assemblywoman, nominee for the U.S. Senate in

and candidate for NV-02 in

* D'Nese Davis, artist and teacher * Eddie Hamilton, retired auto executive and perennial candidate * Joe Heck, U.S. Representative * Thomas "Sad Tom" Heck, retired air force officer * Robert Leeds, author, retired Merchant Marine and perennial candidate * Carlo "Mazunga" Poliak, retired sanitation worker and perennial candidate * Juston Preble, sales consultant * Bill Tarbell, retired minister and candidate for governor in

Withdrawn

* Bob Beers, Las Vegas City Councilman, former state senator and candidate for governor in 2006

Declined

* Mark Amodei, U.S. Representative (running for re-election) * Greg Brower, state senator and former United States Attorney for the District of Nevada *

Barbara Cegavske Barbara Katherine Cegavske (née Jewson; born August 27, 1951) is an American businesswoman and politician, who is the former Secretary of State of Nevada from 2015 to 2023. She was a Republican member of the Nevada Senate, representing Clark Cou ...

, Secretary of State of Nevada, former state senator and candidate for NV-04 in 2012 * Heidi Gansert, former state assemblywoman and former chief of staff to Governor Brian Sandoval * Cresent Hardy, U.S. Representative (lost re-election to NV-04) * Steve Hill, executive director of the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development *

Mark Hutchison Mark Alan Hutchison (born May 5, 1963) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Nevada from 2015 to 2019. He was elected to the Nevada State Senate on November 6, 2012, to represent Senate District 6, ...

, Lieutenant Governor of Nevada and former state senator * Ron Knecht,

Nevada State Controller The Nevada State Controller is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Nevada. Twenty-two individuals have held the office of State Controller since statehood. The incumbent is Andy Matthews, a Republic ...

, former

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12 ...

and former state assemblyman * Brian Krolicki, former lieutenant governor of Nevada *

Adam Laxalt Adam Paul Laxalt (; born August 31, 1978) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 33rd Nevada Attorney General from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Nevada in 2018 ...

, Nevada Attorney General * Michael Roberson, Majority Leader of the

Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the pr ...

( running for NV-03) * Wayne Allyn Root, former member of the

Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national ...

and Libertarian Party nominee for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

, Governor of Nevada *

Dan Schwartz Daniel Mark Schwartz (born July 28, 1950) is an American businessman who served as Nevada State Treasurer from January 2015 to January 2019. An international businessman, attorney and Republican, Schwartz defeated his Democratic opponent, fo ...

, state treasurer and candidate for NV-04 in 2012

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independent American primary

Candidates

Declared

* Tom Jones, retired businessman and perennial candidate

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declined

Dennis Hof Dennis Leroy Hof (October 14, 1946 – October 16, 2018) was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, whi ...

, owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch (running for the State Senate)

Independents

Candidates

Declared

* Tony Gumina, physician and businessman * Tom Sawyer, retired railroad worker * G.A. Villa (not on final ballot) * Jarrod M. Williams, veteran

General election

Debates

Predictions

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 Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

By county

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

External links

;Official campaign websites (Archived)
Catherine Cortez Masto (D) for Senate

Joe Heck (R) for Senate

Tom Jones (IA) for Senate
{{2016 United States elections 2016

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Democratic endorsements

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independent American primary

Candidates

Declared

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declined

Independents

Candidates

Declared

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

See also

Notes

References

External links