Harry Mason Reid (December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American politician. He was the United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He was a member of the United States Democratic Party, and was their leader in the Senate. Earlier, Reid was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until 1987 and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada between 1971 until 1975.

Early life
Reid was born on December 2, 1939 in Searchlight, Nevada. He studied at Southern Utah University, at Utah State University, and at George Washington University.

Career
He returned to Nevada after law school and served as Henderson city attorney before being elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968. In 1970, at age 30, Reid was chosen by O'Callaghan as his running mate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada. Reid and his mentor O'Callaghan won the race and Reid served as lieutenant governor from 1971 until 1974. Reid became the youngest lieutenant governor in Nevada's history. When he ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Alan Bible. He lost by fewer than 600 votes to former Governor Paul Laxalt. In 1975, Reid ran for Mayor of Las Vegas and lost to Bill Briare.

Representative
Nevada had only a single at-large member in the United States House of Representatives, but population growth in the 1970s caused the state to pick up a second district. Reid won the Democratic nomination for the Nevada's 1st congressional district, based in Las Vegas, in 1982, and easily won the general election. He served two terms in the House, from 1983 to 1987.

Senator
In 1986, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term current Republican Senator Paul Laxalt. He defeated former at-large Congressman Jim Santini, a Democrat who had turned Republican, in the November election. He coasted to reelection in 1992. However, he barely defeated 1st District Congressman John Ensign in 1998 in the midst of a statewide Republican sweep.

In 2004, Reid won reelection with 61 percent of the vote, gaining the endorsement of several Republicans.

Ensign was elected to Nevada's other Senate seat in 2000. He and Reid have a very good relationship, despite their bruising contest in 1998. The two frequently worked together on Nevada issues until Ensign was forced to resign his Senate seat.

While Reid won the Democratic nomination with 75% of the vote in the June 8 primary, he faced a competitive general election for the 2010 Senate race in Nevada. Reid engaged in a $1 million media campaign to "reintroduce himself" to Nevada's voters. He defeated Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the general election.

In 2015, Reid announced his retirement from the senate. In November 2016, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, who he supported to replace him, won the election.

Personal life
He was married to Landra Gould. They had 5 children.

In May 2018, Reid had surgery for pancreatic cancer at Johns Hopkins Cancer Center after a tumor was found in his pancreas during a routine screening. In a January 2019 interview with The New York Times, it was revealed that Reid was confined to a desk at his home and was unable to move without the aid of a walker.

Reid died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Henderson, Nevada on December 28, 2021, at the age of 82.

References

Other websites

1939 births
2021 deaths
American Latter Day Saints
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Writers from Nevada
Minority leaders of the United States Senate
Majority leaders of the United States Senate
United States representatives from Nevada
United States senators from Nevada
US Democratic Party politicians
People from Henderson, Nevada
Lieutenant Governors of Nevada