Catherine Cortez Masto projected to win reelection in Nevada Senate race

Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is projected to win reelection, ABC News projects, emerging victorious in what had appeared to be one of the tightest Senate races of the entire 2022 cycle.

Cortez Masto, who first won her seat in 2016, will defeat former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

She was widely considered to be Democrats' most vulnerable incumbents, and her reelection is a major victory in the party's efforts to hang onto their thin majority.

Cortez Masto was considered particularly vulnerable given her reputation as a low key senator in a state with a highly transient populace that might not be as familiar as other states are with their incumbents.

On top of that, Nevada's tourism-reliant economy was battered particularly hard by inflation, making one of Republicans' strongest campaign attack lines even more potent than elsewhere.

Unemployment reached nearly 30% in Nevada during the height of the pandemic, and the state still sees some of the highest gas prices in the nation.

Nevada's population is also disproportionately working class and Hispanic, two demographics the GOP has seen gains with in recent cycles.

Still, Democrats have a battle-tested turnout machine, with the party teaming up with the state's powerful labor unions to knock on doors and drive out the vote, a strategy that has helped make the difference in several competitive cycles.

What's more, Laxalt veered sharply to the right in his campaign, echoing unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud in 2020 and calling Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision protecting abortion access that was overturned this year, a "joke."

Cortez Masto's victory also offers a promising sign to Democrats who were defending their narrow majorities in both chambers and held control of the Senate after Catherine Cortez Masto was projected to win in Nevada. It is still possible that Republicans could gain control of the House.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Catherine Cortez Masto projected to win reelection in Nevada Senate race originally appeared on abcnews.go.com