By Catherine Cortez Masto
I am the product of my parents’ American dream: the granddaughter of Mexican and Italian immigrants, the first generation in my family to graduate college, the first woman elected senator in Nevada and first Latina senator in the entire country.
I have always believed that if you’re willing to work hard and play by the rules, you should have every opportunity to succeed.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about extreme voter suppression attempts ahead of the midterms, led by Donald Trump and his allies. Today, I want to delve deeper into Trump’s specific claims about Nevada and remind you what’s at stake on Nov. 3.
We all know Donald Trump has lied repeatedly about voter fraud. One of those lies is that massive numbers of ineligibile voters are casting ballots in our elections.
Let’s be clear: There is no evidence to back this up. Time and time again, investigations into our elections have proven that voter fraud is incredibly rare.
I know, because the team that investigates voter fraud in Nevada was in my office when I was Attorney General. Out of the over 7 million votes cast in Nevada since the 2008 election, do you know how many were found to have been cast by noncitizens? Not 2,000. Not 200. Just 2.
Yet Trump has used these claims as a justification for pushing Congress to pass the “SAVE America Act”, a voter suppression bill designed to make it harder for Americans to register and vote.
My Democratic colleagues in the Senate and I have blocked this voter suppression bill several times and will continue to do everything we can to defend our right to vote. But in July, Trump’s attacks escalated.
In a national televised address, he claimed that his administration had found “stunning evidence” of more than 250,000 noncitizen voters in four states, including 15,903 in Nevada.
That same month, the Justice Department sent letters to election officials in all 50 states claiming it would prosecute anyone who counted a ballot cast by a noncitizen.
And the day after Trump’s speech, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reiterated Trump’s false claims and threatened local election officials with jail time if they didn’t comply with the administration’s orders.
But just a couple of weeks ago, Nevada election officials reviewed the list that the Trump Administration sent – the individuals it claimed were potential noncitizens voting in our elections – and and every single one of them was a lawful U.S. citizen. Every. Single. One.
Just like every attempt Trump has made to cast doubt on our election security, he was proven wrong again.
So, why is the Trump Administration putting out all of these claims that have been repeatedly proven false? The reason is simple: Trump and his allies know that their failed agenda is deeply unpopular with Americans, and they don’t want to be held accountable for that in November. Instead of doing anything to bring down costs or stop the egregious violations of our rights, extreme MAGA politicians prefer to put their hands on the scales.
It’s our responsibility to stop them. Especially here in Nevada, where elections are always incredibly close – I don’t need to remind you that I won my last race by less than 1% of the vote. And what happens in this year’s elections will have far-reaching impacts for years to come.
We have a chance to put a fighter for working Nevadans like Aaron Ford in the governor’s mansion. We have the opportunity to flip Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District blue for the first time in history. And we’re also voting for attorney general, secretary of state, and many more statewide officials who will have a massive impact on Nevada in the next two years – and the 2028 elections.
I know, 2028 sounds like it’s a long way away. But the fight to flip Nevada blue again and defend this Senate seat starts in just 23 days. The state officials we elect this year will be the ones overseeing those elections. They will be the ones standing up to Donald Trump and ensuring every Nevadan can cast a ballot… OR, if we lose, they’ll be the ones bowing down to Trump like the king he wants to be.
And look, with Nevada playing such an important role in the 2028 presidential race – we will be the second state to vote in the 2028 primary – you can see why Trump is targeting us specifically.
That’s why it’s so, so important that we show him he does NOT have the power to decide the outcome of our elections here in Nevada and everywhere else. Please, whether you’re in Nevada or not, visit iwillvote.com to make a plan to vote if you haven’t already – and then help those around you make their plan, too. This is too important to sit on the sidelines.
Catherine Cortez Masto is a U.S. Senator from Nevada.