When Kamala Harris needed help picking a running mate, she turned to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
“Vice President Harris and I have known each other a long time, going back to our days as attorneys general,” Cortez Masto told the Reno Gazette Journal in a phone call Wednesday.
“We have a long-standing friendship and professional relationship. I know that she knows she can trust me and that I would always be candid with her.”
Harris personally invited Cortez Masto to be part of a small group of allies who would pre-interview the six finalists to be her vice presidential running mate. Cortez Masto was the only U.S. senator in the group, and she said it was her first time being part of such a vetting process.
The finalists were Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona; and governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota.
Harris ultimately chose Walz, and the two immediately embarked on a tour that includes a stop Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Aside from being longtime friends, Cortez Masto also brought to the table her Nevada perspective.
“I come from a swing state and just won a tight re-election,” she said, referring to her 2022 victory over Republican Adam Laxalt by 8,000 votes. “It is important to understand what the voters care about and the issues they care about, and I know that in Nevada from talking with Nevadans.”
In addition to Cortez Masto, the questioners included Marty Walsh, who had served as President Joe Biden’s labor secretary; Cedric Richmond, a campaign co-chair; Tony West, Harris’s brother-in-law; and Dana Remus, a former White House counsel, according to the New York Times.
They received vetting briefings and interviewed candidates over the weekend. Cortez Masto did her part of the interviews remotely.
Afterward, the panel spoke with the vice president and her team directly, giving their pluses and minuses for each person under consideration before Harris made the final decision.
“It was exciting, and I was just honored to be a part of the process,” Cortez Masto said.
“As a Democrat, it gave me a sense of comfort because it shows we have a deep bench of rising political stars.”
It was her first interaction with Walz.
“I was inspired by his fighting spirit as well as his authenticity and his understanding of our working families across the country,” she said. “I was also excited to see them last night together (in Philadelphia at their first rally together), and I’m looking forward to seeing them this weekend together in Nevada.”
The Las Vegas venue for the Harris-Walz campaign stop Saturday has not been confirmed yet, but free tickets are available at mobilize.us/2024nvvictory/event/656748.
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.
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Publish date : 2024-08-07 10:13:00
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