Thomas Sawyer (Nevada)
Thomas Sawyer was a 2016 independent candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from Nevada.[1]
Elections
2016
The race for Nevada's open U.S. Senate seat was one of Ballotpedia's nine competitive battleground races in 2016. Former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto (D) defeated U.S. Rep. Joe Heck (R), a doctor and brigadier general in the Army Reserve who served in Iraq, and four third-party candidates in the general election to win retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D) seat. Her victory on November 8, 2016, made her the first-ever Latina elected to the United States Senate.[2][3][1]
Reid’s seat was the Republican Party’s only chance to pick up a Senate seat this cycle. Cortez Masto’s biggest ally was Reid, who used his get out the vote resources to make sure his seat stayed under Democratic control. Reid and outside groups heavily influenced the race and were partially responsible for the negative tone and numerous attack ads. According to USA Today, “The race was anything but cordial. Outside money flooded the state bringing the total spending to nearly $100 million. All that cash washed away nearly any real policy discussion, as attacks flew claiming Cortez Masto was incompetent and corrupt while Heck was a stooge for the billionaire Koch Brothers.”[4]
In her victory speech, Cortez Masto commented on her status as the first Latina elected to the Senate, saying, "It's not just about making history. Don't you think it is about time that we had diversity in the U.S. Senate? Don't you think it's about time that our government mirrors the people we serve every day?"[5]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Catherine Cortez Masto |
47.1% | 521,994 | |
| Republican | Joe Heck | 44.7% | 495,079 | |
| N/A | None of these candidates | 3.8% | 42,257 | |
| Independent American | Tom Jones | 1.5% | 17,128 | |
| Independent | Thomas Sawyer | 1.3% | 14,208 | |
| Independent | Tony Gumina | 1% | 10,740 | |
| Independent | Jarrod Williams | 0.6% | 6,888 | |
| Total Votes | 1,108,294 | |||
| Source: Nevada Secretary of State | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Joe Heck |
64.9% | 74,524 | ||
| Sharron Angle | 22.8% | 26,146 | ||
| None of these candidates | 3.4% | 3,903 | ||
| Tom Heck | 3.1% | 3,567 | ||
| Eddie Hamilton | 1.8% | 2,057 | ||
| D'Nese Davis | 1.7% | 1,938 | ||
| Bill Tarbell | 1% | 1,179 | ||
| Robert Leeds | 0.6% | 662 | ||
| Juston Preble | 0.5% | 582 | ||
| Carlo Poliak | 0.2% | 279 | ||
| Total Votes | 114,837 | |||
| Source: Nevada Secretary of State |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Catherine Cortez Masto |
80.6% | 81,971 | ||
| Allen Rheinhart | 5.6% | 5,650 | ||
| None of these candidates | 5.4% | 5,501 | ||
| Liddo O'Briant | 4.8% | 4,842 | ||
| Bobby Mahendra | 3.7% | 3,764 | ||
| Total Votes | 101,728 | |||
| Source: Nevada Secretary of State |
||||
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nevada Secretary of State, "2016 Master Statewide Certified List of Candidates," accessed September 7, 2016
- ↑ Time, "Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada Is U.S. Senate’s First Latina," accessed November 14, 2016
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "2016 Filed Non-Judicial Candidates," accessed March 19, 2016
- ↑ USA Today, "Nevada voters send first Latina to U.S. Senate," accessed November 14, 2016
- ↑ McClatchy DC, "Nevada's Cortez Masto breaks barrier as 1st Latina in Senate," accessed November 14, 2016
