Catherine Cortez Masto becomes first Latina elected to US Senate

USA - While the results of the presidential elections might not be what we expected, there is something for us to still celebrate. Latina Catherine Cortez Masto has made history with the US Senate. According to FOX News Latino, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, has made history becoming the first Latina elected to the US Senate. Cortez-Masto defeated Republican Joe Heck in the race to replace retiring Senator Harry Reid.

The site reports that the 52-year-old former Nevada attorney general will take over the mantle from the pugnacious and polarizing 76-year-old Senate Minority Leader, her stylistic opposite who’s reluctantly retiring following an exercise accident that crushed part of his face and left him blind in one eye. With control of the Senate at stake, controversy rose with Reid’s allies and enemies, including the conservative Koch brothers, poured a lot of money into the contest, turning it into one of the most expensive Senate races in the country.

During her campaign, Cortez Masto, who had not previously faced a highly competitive race, made it her business to distance herself from the controversial Reid.

“Sen. Reid’s not on the ballot, and to me this is a race I’m focused on about the issues that people in my state, where I was born and raised, care about, because I will be representing them in Washington, not Sen. Reid,” Cortez Masto said over the summer.

Cortez Masto’s win, in which she took won just under 49 percent of the vote, was one of the few bright spots for the Democratic Party on a difficult night that saw them lose a number of Senate races they were expected to win. Although many of us are not happy with the presidential turnout, with Masto in the Senate, this can be the beginning of necessary changes that need to be made.

(latintimes)