According to the Associated Press, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada’s incumbent, won a challenge and defeated Republican Adam Laxalt, helping Democrats retain the U.S. Senate.
Nevada was the top target of Republicans as they attempted to break the Senate’s 50-50 split. Cortez Masto’s election was a toss up going into the election. She was competing neck-and-neck with Laxalt (Nevada’s former attorney General who has been endorsed former President Donald Trump).
Cortez Masto was Nevada’s attorney General for two terms before becoming the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate. She campaigned for women’s reproductive rights and criticized Laxalt for calling Roe v Wade “a joke”, the Nevada Independent reported. Also, she categorizes a vote for her opponent “automatic votes for a federal abortion ban.”
Laxalt attempted to lure voters by promising to fight inflation. He attributed this to the poor decision-making of President Biden and Cortez Masto. He also pledged to secure America’s southern borders, including the resumption of Trump’s wall project.
NPR reported that Trump was also supported by the Republican candidate in his claims that 2020 election results were fraudulent.
The Nevada Independent reported that 14 family members wrote a three-page endorsement letter for Laxalt less than a month before the election. Cortez Masto’s positions on women’s issues, public land preservation, and her record as an attorney general were all praised in the letter.
“We believe Catherine has a set of characteristics that clearly speaks to what we like calling ‘Nevada grit,'” the letter stated. We won’t make any further comments, because we believe the letter speaks for itself.
Laxalt replied to the email via Twitter and said he was not surprised that some members of his family support another Democrat, despite being out of state.
Laxalt’s family had already spoken out about his political involvement. Twelve of his relatives wrote a letter opposing him during his 2018 campaign for governor.
