Cortez Masto taking over ‘ModSquad' PAC, urges Dems to drop ‘purity tests'
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada will announce Monday that she is taking the reins of a group boosting centrist lawmakers, calling on fellow Democrats to focus on economic issues and drop 'purity tests' that some moderates and progressives alike have cast as damaging to the party.
In an interview, Cortez Masto, who is becoming the new honorary chair of the Moderate Democrats PAC, argued that embracing centrism is the key to her party winning back power. She pointed to Democrats' victories in Senate races in four swing states last year that former Vice President Kamala Harris lost.
'Common-sense Democrats are the only group that really outperformed in the 2024 election,' she said. 'That's our path forward.'
It's the latest example of Democratic leaders and activists racing to shape the future of the party in the wake of last year's electoral defeat. Cortez Masto is taking over the Moderate Democrats PAC, or 'ModSquad,' as it works to amplify centrists in the party.
Democrats have struggled to adapt to a fragmented media environment, most famously on podcasts in last year's elections. And moderate Democrats, in particular, have long complained that their messages are drowned out by extremes. Two leading progressives, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have drawn huge crowds at rallies while touring the country after the election.
'The loudest voices oftentimes that get picked up and amplified by the press and social media are the far left and the far right,' said Cortez Masto.
Cortez Masto said Democrats should focus on the economic issues impacting working families and small businesses. She also urged Democrats to listen to their constituents, even when it comes to hot-button issues like immigration.
'If they care about what's happening at the southern border, we talk about it,' she said. 'We talk about securing that southern border, but we can also talk about doing that and also doing comprehensive immigration reform at the same time.'
President Donald Trump won back the White House in part due to his strength among voters on immigration. While campaigning on his hardline stance on immigration, he won Cortez Masto's home state of Nevada, the first Republican to carry the state in 20 years, even as Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen narrowly won reelection. He also carried a bigger percentage of Latinos than any other Republican in history.
Cortez Masto pushed Democrats to drop 'purity tests,' something Rep. Greg Casar (D-Tex.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus chair, has also called for recently. And she took a shot at the 'defund the police' movement that took off in 2020.
'We also need to be talking about recognizing that our communities want safe communities,' she said. 'That means we don't run around talking about defunding the police. This is just common sense. We actually talk about the issues that we know our constituents care about. Oh my gosh! It's not difficult!'
The Moderate Democrats PAC raised $1.2 million in the 2024 election cycle. A PAC adviser granted anonymity to discuss internal operations said its current fundraising is 'already outpacing previous cycles.'
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