‘Powerful, tenacious, classy’: politicians salute Harry Reid

The death of former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid prompted an outpouring Tuesday of tributes locally and nationally.

Reid, a political titan and perhaps the most influential person to call the Silver State home, died at age 82 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Gov. Steve Sisolak said Reid spent his life and career fighting for all Nevadans, ascending from humble beginnings in Searchlight to becoming a fierce advocate for the state in the nation’s capital. Reid spent years leading the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate.

But he never forgot who he was or where he came from, Sisolak said.

“To say Harry Reid was a giant doesn’t fully encapsulate all that he accomplished on behalf of the state of Nevada and for Nevada families; there will never be another leader quite like Senator Reid,” the governor said. “To me, he was a mentor, a father figure, and someone I trusted to always give it to me straight.”

Former President Barack Obama posted on Twitter a letter he had written to Reid.

“You were a great leader in the Senate, and early on you were more generous to me than I had any right to expect,” Obama wrote. “I wouldn’t have been president had it not been for your encouragement and support, and I wouldn’t have got most of what I got done without your skill and determination.”

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, whom Reid backed to replace him in the 2016 election, called her predecessor “one of the most powerful, dedicated, and effective advocates” in Nevada’s history.

“From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, everything he did was motivated by his love for and devotion to the Silver State,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said Reid inspired her and many others.

“A former boxer from Searchlight, he taught me that it is always worth fighting the good fight, and I am forever grateful for his friendship over the years,” she said. “Senator Reid carried our state to new heights — nobody has done more in the history of our state to advance Nevada’s interests.”

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who had known Reid since she and her husband, former Mayor Oscar Goodman, moved to Las Vegas in 1964, said Reid was a quintessential family man who was generous with his time.

“Sen. Reid was always very committed to his political beliefs in everything he did,” she said, adding that he “did the most with everything that he had the opportunity to do.”

Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom, who led the successful push to rename McCarran International Airport after Reid, said that it was important to him that Reid was able to see that plan realized.

“The reality is, he is by far the most important Nevadan in history,” Segerblom said. “His legacy in the United States, working with (President) Obama during those years, doing some amazing things that we were never able to do before, including (passing) Obamacare.”

Most powerful Nevadan ever

“There has never been anyone from Nevada with more power in Washington, D.C.,” said UNLV history professor Michael Green. Although former Sens. Pat McCarran and Paul Laxalt may have been close, neither held the entire party’s agenda in his hands, Green said.

Reid was also shaped by his marriage to Landra Reid, Green said. “Outside of (former Gov. Mike) O’Callaghan, the most important person shaping Harry Reid was Landra,” Green said.

After Reid gave a particularly conservative speech denouncing illegal immigration, she told him he was wrong and urged him to reconsider. Reid did, and later called that speech the worst mistake made in his career. Later, in 2010, he would credit support from the Latino community for his re-election victory.

Jim Manley, who worked for Reid for six years when the lawmaker took the top leadership role in the U.S. Senate, said Reid was most proud of his work passing the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

“The drive and tenacity he put into Obamacare,” Manley recalled Tuesday, “he was extremely proud of what he had done.”

‘True leader’

U.S. Rep Susie Lee, D-Nev., said Nevada lost a true leader.

“Simply put, no one has done more for the Silver State,” she said in a statement. “May his legacy of service be an inspiration to all of us as we work to build a better future for our country.”

U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., called Reid a real-life hero and a colossus of Nevada and national politics. His work in public service transformed millions of lives, he said in a statement.

“His legacy will live on through his work to expand affordable health care, protect immigrant communities, promote conservation, and better the lives of working families — but also through the countless people he inspired and communities that he lifted,” Horsford said. “He was a fighter until the very end.”

Former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Nevada’s 2022 gubernatorial race, said Reid’s legacy will be long felt in Nevada and beyond.

“Even though we were rarely on the same page politically, Harry Reid was always gracious, classy, and warm in our personal interactions and I always appreciated that about him,” Heller said.

Legendary Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton said Reid was one of his closest friends for more than 50 years.

Newton said he and Reid disagreed on certain political issues, but it never got in the way of their friendship.

“We ended every get together, every call, and every text with the words ‘I love you my forever friend,” Newton said. “Well I love you my forever friend … until we meet again.”

Reid’s rival and frequent Senate floor sparring partner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called him a “one-of-a-kind senator.”

“You could hardly invent a more quintessentially American story and took Harry’s toughness, bluntness, and tenacity to make it happen,” McConnell said. “The nature of Harry’s and my jobs brought us into frequent and sometimes intense conflict over politics and policy. But I never doubted that Harry was always doing what he earnestly, deeply felt was right for Nevada and for our country.”

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., with whom Reid worked on the health care reform law, said, “America has lost a titan of public service.”

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Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writers Shea Johnson and Gary Martin, columnist John Katsilometes and Politics and Government Editor Steve Sebelius contributed to this report.