Cortez Masto campaigns in Carson City

Catherine Cortez Masto made a campaign stop in Carson City Thursday, speaking for an hour to about two dozen supporters gathered in the capital’s Democratic party headquarters.

The visit was part of the Democratic senate candidate’s Middle Class Tax Cut Tour, with more stops in Fallon and Virginia City.

Masto, a former Nevada attorney general running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Harry Reid, talked about tax cuts and other issues, including immigration reform, an increase in the minimum wage, and protecting Social Security.

She also emphasized the importance of voting.

“This race alone is the pathway for the Democrats to take back the Senate,” said Masto. “If we don’t have a Democratic senate majority and a Democrat in the White House, we won’t be able to do anything.”

Masto is opposed by Republican Rep. Joe Heck, a former state senator and current representative for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.

Masto said she was proposing a $1,000 tax break for middle class families and supported ending both subsidies to oil companies and tax breaks for corporations that take jobs overseas.

Masto said she had recently met in Las Vegas with 10 so-called DREAMers, the terms for young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

“It was the first time they were ever telling their stories out loud,” said Masto. “They’re afraid if anyone knows their parents won’t be there when they come home.”

She said she wanted to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, which in turn would help Social Security.

“If you’re concerned about shoring up Social Security, if immigration reform had passed it would have added $3 billion to the Social Security trust fund,” she said.

Masto expects her race for the Senate will get increasingly nasty. She said $12 million in outside money has already been poured into it, mostly from Charles and David Koch, the conservative and politically active billionaires who own Koch Industries.

“The Koch brothers don’t scare me,” she said.

In attendance at the meeting was Michael Greedy, the Democratic candidate running against Republican Al Kramer for District 40 of the Nevada Assembly.

“Thank you for jumping in and thank you for running for office,” she said.