Heck, Cortez Masto each top $1M for quarter in bid to succeed Reid in Senate

By Megan Messerly

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 | 7 p.m.

The Republican and Democratic candidates battling to replace Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate each raised more than a million dollars in the fourth quarter last year, their campaigns said today.

Former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, raised $1.3 million, leaving her campaign with $2 million in cash on hand at the end of 2015. Republican Rep. Joe Heck brought in $1.22 million in total receipts, ending with $2.9 million on hand.

Detailed reports of each candidate’s campaign finance filings are not yet available on the FEC’s website, due to the process by which Senate candidates file their documents.

“Despite a three-month head start and the backing of the Obama-Reid money machine, we’re leading in cash on hand since Dr. Joe Heck entered the race by nearly $900,000,” said Brian Baluta, Heck’s communications director, in a statement.

Cortez Masto’s campaign said that 93 percent of her donations were less than $200, and that the median amount contributed was $15.

“The steady increase in donors contributing low-dollar amounts will enable our campaign to keep growing and strengthening as we get closer to Election Day, unlike Congressman Heck who can only go back to the Koch Brothers so many times,” said Scott Fairchild, Cortez Masto’s campaign manager, in a statement.

Cortez Masto is running with Reid’s backing, and the race is already projected to be one of the fiercest Senate contests in 2016.