Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 from Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, he has been the Senate Majority Leader

Party leaders of the United States Senate

The Senate Majority and Minority Leaders are two United States Senators who are elected by the party conferences that hold the majority and the minority respectively. These leaders serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and manage and schedule the legislative and executive...

 since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip

Assistant party leaders of the United States Senate

The Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate are the second-ranking members of the party leadership of the United States Senate....

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Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

, representing Nevada's 1st congressional district

Nevada's 1st congressional district

Nevada's 1st congressional district occupies most of Nevada's largest city, Las Vegas, as well as parts of North Las Vegas and parts of unincorporated Clark County. The district now leans Democratic....

, and served in Nevada local and state government as city attorney of Henderson

Henderson, Nevada

-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...

, a state legislator

Nevada Assembly

The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year terms from single-member districts. Each Assembly district contained approximately 47,400 people as of the 2000 census, although...

, Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Nevada

The Nevada Lieutenant Governor is an elected office in the U.S. state of Nevada. The Nevada Lieutenant Governor is based in Carson City, Nevada and elected for 4 year terms. The 33rd and current Lt. Governor for the 2007-2011 term is Brian Krolicki....

, and chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission

Nevada Gaming Commission

The Nevada Gaming Commission is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of casinos throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It was founded in 1959 by the Nevada Legislature....

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Reid was born in Searchlight, Nevada

Searchlight, Nevada

Searchlight is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, at the topographic saddle between two mountain ranges.-History:According to Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who has written extensively about his hometown, the most likely story as to how the town received its name was when George Frederick...

, the third of the four sons of Inez Orena Jaynes, a laundress, and Harry Vincent Reid, a miner.