Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair and Senator for Nevada
pronounced KATH-rin // kor-TEZ mass-TOH
Cortez Masto is the senior senator from Nevada and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2017. Cortez Masto is next up for reelection in 2028 and serves until Jan 3, 2029. She is 59 years old.
She is also Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV]](/static/legislator-photos/412681-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Cortez Masto.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Cortez Masto is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Cortez Masto has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jun 1, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Catherine Cortez Masto sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Cortez Masto was the primary sponsor of 18 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 5328 (117th): A bill to amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to extend terminal lakes assistance.
- S. 4441 (117th): A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide for peer support specialists for claimants who are survivors …
- S. 3898 (117th): Human Trafficking Online Research Act
- S. 1502 (117th): COPS Counseling Act
- S. 3067 (117th): NEXT in Transportation Act
- S. 3066 (117th): Battery Material Processing and Component Manufacturing Act of 2021
- S. 1339 (117th): Fairness for Rape Kit Backlog Survivors Act of 2021
Does 18 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Cortez Masto sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Commerce (16%) Taxation (15%) Energy (13%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (13%) Transportation and Public Works (13%) Health (12%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Cortez Masto recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 1763: A bill to include smoke in the definition of disaster in the Small …
- S. 1764: A bill to improve Federal activities relating to wildfires, and for other purposes.
- S. 1760: A bill to amend the Apex Project, Nevada Land Transfer and Authorization Act …
- S. 1739: A bill to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish …
- S. 1673: Protecting Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services Act of 2023
- S. 1643: Reclaiming the Solar Supply Chain Act of 2023
- S.J.Res. 28: A joint resolution providing for the reappointment of Roger W. Ferguson as a …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
As Senate Democratic Outreach Vice Chair, Cortez Masto may be focused on her responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting her party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2017 to Jun 2023, Cortez Masto missed 20 of 2,408 roll call votes, which is 0.8%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- Office of Senator Cortez Masto for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills