There may be a good chance that the next elected official to fill retiring U.S. Senator Harry Reid's congressional seat will be Latino.

After representing Nevada for nearly three decades in the Senate, the 75-year-old Democrat announced his retirement on Friday. Reid also quickly endorsed former Democratic state Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto as his successor.

"I hope she decides to run. If she does, I'm going to help her," Reid said about Masto during an interview with KNPR, Nevada's public radio station. "Whoever runs against Catherine, I think, will be a loser," he added.

In response to his retirement announcement, Masto, the current executive vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, thanked Reid for his service and described him a "powerful voice" for Nevada families, reports USA Today Politics.

Meanwhile, there's speculation that Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, the first Hispanic candidate to be elected to a statewide office in Nevada, may also run for Reid's seat.

Although the rising Republican star won a second term last year by a landslide, he has dismissed suggestions that he will step into the Senate race. Instead, he has said he wants to focus on serving out his term as governor.

On Friday, he issued a statement thanking Reid for his service and for his indefatigable work on behalf of Nevada residents, reports Fox News Latino. However, he gave no indication that he plans to run for the Senate seat.

According to USA Today Politics, it makes sense for both Democrats and Republicans to endorse a Latino candidate in the 2016 senate race being that Hispanics make up 27.5 percent of the population in Nevada. According to the 2010 Census, Hispanics also share the fifth largest population in the nation.

Plus, about 16 percent of all of Nevada's eligible voters are Hispanic. In addition, nearly 40 percent of Latinos in the Silver State are registered to vote.