LAS VEGAS — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate, will hold onto her seat in Nevada after enduring a bruising campaign against Republican Adam Laxalt, who fell short of ousting the Democrat despite severe midterm headwinds, NBC News projects.Latinos were expected to make up 1 in 5 midterm voters, but the NBC News Exit Poll in the state suggests those expectations fell short, with Latinos making up just 12 percent of Nevada voters.Despite predictions from her opponent that she'd struggle with Latinos, 62 percent said they voted for Cortez Masto and 33 percent backed Laxalt, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.Laxalt, a MAGA loyalist who drew Donald Trump as well as Donald Trump Jr. to the state to stump for him, had questioned the results of the 2020 election, even saying the results were “rigged.”“There should be consequences for people who undermine our democracy, who peddle the ‘big lie’ and conspiracy theories,” Cortez Masto said at an event in Reno in October.Laxalt handily won the state’s 15 rural counties, in some counties winning 80 percent of the vote, while Cortez Masto steadily led the reliably blue Clark County, home of Las Vegas."