Cortez Masto holds razor thin lead over Laxalt in Nevada U.S. Senate race

(The Center Square) – Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto just barely led in Nevada’s high-profile Senate race in partial results released after polls closed Tuesday.

With roughly 62% of votes in, Cortez Masto received 51.1% of the vote as of 11:20 p.m., according to CNN. Her Republican challenger, former Nevada attorney general Adam Laxalt, had received 46.1% of the vote. Vote totals are likely to be updated in the coming hours and days.

The race between Laxalt, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Cortez Masto has been identified as one of the tightest Senate races in the nation. Laxalt and Cortez Masto have been neck-and-neck in the polls in recent weeks, with Laxalt holding a slight lead in the polls heading into Election Day, according to FiveThirtyEight.

With control of the Senate at stake, former President Barack Obama stumped in Nevada last week to rally support for Cortez Masto, who has served as a U.S. Senator since 2017. The race was labeled a “toss up” by Cook Political Report, indicating the GOP could have a shot at flipping the Democratic-held seat.

Abortion and inflation have emerged as key issues in the race throughout the high-profile race, as reported by FiveThirtyEight. Cortez Masto has criticized Laxalt’s anti-abortion stance, telling voters at a rally last week that “we can’t trust Laxalt when it comes to a woman’s right to choose.”

Laxalt wrote in an August opinion column in the Reno Gazette Journal that he would support an abortion ban in Nevada after 13 weeks of pregnancy. He also wrote that he holds “the view that the Supreme Court should return the issue of abortion to the people and let them decide the issue on a state-by-state basis.”

On the economy, Laxalt’s campaign has zoomed in on inflation and the cost of living. His campaign has decried the state’s high gas prices and criticized the Inflation Reduction Act.

Cortez Masto, on the other hand, has defended her support of the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorized Medicare to negotiate drug prices and lowers energy costs for some Nevadans, according to the White House.

Election results in Nevada will be updated in the coming days as ballots are counted. Every registered voter in the state received a mail-in ballot, which was required to be postmarked on Tuesday and received by Nov. 12 to be counted.