Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, celebrated for her narrow victory three years ago that secured Democrats’ control of the Senate, is now being cast as a traitor by members of her own party.
She is one of three senators who broke ranks this week, voting with Republicans on the spending bill and robbing Democrats of a united front. Independent Angus King and maverick Democrat John Fetterman joined her in backing the GOP funding measure to keep the government open. But Cortez Masto — a member of Senate leadership — seems to have backing in her home state.
“We’re happy with the way [Cortez Masto] voted,” said Vince Saavedra, executive secretary and treasurer at the Southern Nevada Building Trades Union.
Nevada’s federal workers told Cortez Masto that they wanted to keep the government open. Saavedra told POLITICO that furloughing the state’s many federal workers — who work predominantly for the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy — will have ripple effects in the economy.
His trade coalition represents 19 of the 21 construction unions working at the Nevada National Security Site. Saavedra said a furlough can jeopardize his members’ healthcare, which is based on the number of hours worked.
“When they’re on furlough, they can’t provide for their families. They’re not working,” he said, referencing the state’s higher-than-average unemployment rate. “A government shutdown is not doing anyone any favors.”
Cortez Masto’s vote, and the ensuing backlash, highlight the party’s struggle to adapt as previously blue states like Nevada shift rightward. Health care is emerging as one of Democrats’ core 2026 issues, and the shutdown vote offers them an opportunity to insist Republicans own the soon-to-expire subsidies that keep premiums low.
But the politics of reddening swing states like Nevada are forcing Democrats to navigate between people who are hurt immediately by the shutdown and those with longer-term needs like the health insurance subsidies at the heart of the impasse in Congress.
Cortez Masto defended her vote as responsible governance.
“I have voted to keep the government open in both Democratic and Republican administrations because I think shutdowns hurt Nevadans,” she said in an interview.
She said she’s working with Republican senators — especially from states where many Americans rely on the Affordable Care Act — to find a solution for the subsidies set to expire on Nov. 1. But she emphasized other economic factors beyond health care.
“There’s rising prices. It’s not just health care,” she said. “Our small businesses are getting squeezed right now, so everybody’s suffering, and they want us to work together to solve those problems.”
Her choice to break with the party reflects the changing political landscape of Nevada, which swung 3 points in Donald Trump’s favor between 2020 and 2024.
Over the last two cycles, Republicans made significant gains and flipped Nevada’s governor’s mansion. Republicans this year also overtook Democrats in voter registration — the first time since 2007.
“Look she’s probably not making the wrong political calculation,” said Republican strategist Jeremy Hughes, who has worked on a number of Nevada races, including for Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. “She’s just also making it harder on her party.”
Some argued that her vote weakened Democrats’ bargaining position on healthcare, but in Nevada many understood her calculus. They remember that many everyday Americans shifted right in 2024 because they believe Democrats have lost the plot on working-class voters.
“Nevada turned red this last election,” said Democratic strategist Andres Ramirez, who has known Cortez Masto for more than 25 years. “If I’m reading the tea leaves, and I started off as a centrist, and the state’s only getting more red, it doesn’t gain me anything by going left.”
But Democrats must balance the 2024 election results with a base clamoring for leadership in Washington to do more to fight what they see as a reckless administration.
“You can’t run an opposition with members who refuse to be part of the play,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive organizing group Indivisible.
As the stakes get higher and higher, Cortez Masto’s prioritization of government funding will continue to frustrate a caucus she’s also supposed to lead.
“Nevadans sent me here to fight for them,” fellow Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen said Tuesday in a floor speech. “Not to cave.”
