Background
Cortez Masto was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, the daughter of Joanna (née Musso) and Manny Cortez. Her father was the longtime head of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
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Catherine Masto
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Education
Cortez Masto earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1986 and a Juris Doctor from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1990.
Career
She is a candidate for the 2016 United States. Senate election in Nevada. She was the Attorney General of Nevada from 2007 to 2015, elected to replace George Chanos. Cortez Masto was not eligible to run for a third term in 2014 due to lifetime term limits established by the Nevada Constitution.
She was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 1990, the United States. District Court, District of Nevada in 1991 and the United States. Court of Appeals, for the Ninth Circuit in 1994.
Her career includes four years as a civil attorney in Las Vegas and two years as a criminal prosecutor for the United States. Attorney" General’ s Office in Washington, District of Columbia She also served as former Nevada Democratic Governor Bob Miller’s chief of staff In 2014, Cortez Masto was named executive vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education.
The Board of Regents never voted on the hire and it was unclear if other candidates were considered. In 2009, Cortez Masto"s office launched an investigation against Brian Krolicki, the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.
Krolicki faced felony charges related to allegations that he mishandled the Nevada College Savings Trust Fund when he was state treasurer.
During the investigation, the Las Vegas Review-Journal discovered that Cortez Masto"s husband, Paul, planned to host a fundraising party for Robert South. Randazzo, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, four days before the attorney general"s office was scheduled to prosecute Krolicki. Cortez Masto said she was unaware of the fundraising party. The charges against Krolicki were ultimately dismissed in Clark County District Court.
The dismissal of charges against Krolicki was regarded as a political setback for Cortez Masto, who, according to the Las Vegas Sun, "opened herself to charges of politicizing her office and prosecutorial misconduct."
In 2010, Cortez Masto"s office began investigating Bank of America, accusing the company of raising interest rates on troubled borrowers.
Her office sought to end Nevada"s participation in a loan modification settlement in order to sue the bank over alleged deceptive marketing and lending practices. Bank of America denied any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit was settled in 2012. Sandoval. The lawsuit challenged Nevada"s denial of same-sex marriage as prohibited by the state"s constitution and statutory law.
Cortez Masto declined to run for Governor of Nevada in the 2014 election.
When United States. Senator Harry Reid decided not to run for re-election in the 2016 election, he endorsed Cortez Masto as his successor. Cortez Masto"s campaign is expected to rely heavily on the political infrastructure Reid has assembled.
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Cortez Masto defended the state of Nevada"s position in the lawsuit Sevcik v. After initially defending the state"s same-sex marriage ban, Cortez Masto and the state abandoned their defense of the ban in light of a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Membership
She is a member of the Democratic Party.
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Political Party
Democratic party