LAS VEGAS (AP) – Adam Laxalt, a former attorney general who embraced the lies of the 2020 election, won the Republican nomination for a key seat in the Nevada Senate, rejecting the challenge from a newcomer to politics and creating what is likely to be a fierce and costly race against incumbent President Catherine Cortes Masto, one of the most threatened Democrats in the evenly divided Senate.
Laxalt enjoyed the support of the most influential Republican figures, ranging from former President Donald Trump to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But a late-stage challenge from political newcomer Sam Brown has forced Laxalt to spend the last few weeks of the primary campaign seriously and enlisting the support of some of his high-ranking supporters, especially those with ties to Trump.
The meeting against Cortes Masto comes at a difficult time for Democrats, weighed down by low approval ratings of President Joe Biden and seeking to retain control of Congress as people in the United States struggle with rising prices for daily commodities and gasoline. Republicans see the race as the best opportunity to revoke a Senate seat and regain a majority, but they also expect a long-term signal that Nevada is heading back in their direction after rejecting every 2004 Republican presidential candidate. here.
“Together we have taken an important step tonight,” Laxalt said at a party on election night in Reno, Nevada. “An important step for the return of our country, an important step in the conquest of our great state of Nevada.
In addition to running in the Senate, Republicans in Nevada have also chosen Joe Lombardo as their candidate to challenge incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak in one of the most competitive gamers for governor this year. And the GOP supported Jim Marchant as their candidate for secretary of state. A former U.S. lawmaker, he has repeated false allegations about the presidential campaign and, if elected, will be responsible for the state election, which could be crucial in determining the winner of the 2024 White House.
Nevada was one of several states to hold elections Tuesday, around the middle of a primary season that could change U.S. policy. The results offered warnings for both sides.
In South Texas, Democrats lost a longtime seat in the US House of Representatives. They are likely to regain it in November, but Tuesday’s results were a reminder that the party’s reputation is at risk of falling among Latinos.
Trump, meanwhile, helped a South Carolina lawmaker remove the five-term incumbent Tom Rice, who backed the former president’s second impeachment last year. While victory could help Trump regain momentum after failing in a series of races last month, it happened in a rural, solidly Republican area of Congress. Another incumbent, whom the former president tried to defeat in a neighboring county, Nancy Mace, has detained the contender, attracting some of the suburban moderates who gave up the Republican Party during the Trump era.
Speaking to reporters after receiving the results, Mace tried to reach a consensus tone, promising to “work with anyone who wants to work with me, period.”
For his part, Trump posted a statement on his social media platform saying that Mace’s contender, Katie Arrington, was a “long shooter” who took part in a “great race.” He congratulated Mace, who he said should easily prevail over a Democrat in the fall.
Still, much of Tuesday’s focus was on Nevada.
Laxalt entered the primary election with strong name recognition after serving four years as Nevada’s attorney general. The grandson of former US Senator Paul Laxalt, he fought unsuccessfully for governor in 2018.
But perhaps most important in Republican circles is that he has ties to Trump. Laxalt is working on Trump’s re-election campaign and promoting his lies about post-election fraud in the state after the 2020 election, including leading legal challenges to the counting process. Trump, in turn, hosted Laxalt to raise funds at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared in an advertising campaign for Laxalt.
Trump’s false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election have permeated the entire campaign. Last fall, Laxalt began raising fears of voter fraud in 2022 and spoke of a preemptive increase in legal challenges “to try to tighten the election”.
Laxalt insisted in 2020 that unelected and dead voters cast ballots in Nevada’s presidential election, although the Republican Secretary of State insisted that the results showing Biden’s victory were accurate and reliable.
Brown, to the surprise of many in the state, won the approval of the Republican Party in Nevada in a congressional vote in late April and the GOP straw poll in the Las Vegas area gathering in May. Recent studies show that it is close to Laxalt, although the state, with a transitional population and many late-shift workers due to the country’s tourism and casino industry, is considered volatile by sociologists.
Laxalt is now focusing on trying to defeat Cortes Masto, the first Latino to be elected to the Senate and the successor to the late Senator Harry Reed. She is running for re-election for the first time, as Democrats in general are facing difficulties this year, especially when it comes to the economy. In Nevada, high gas prices are being felt by residents of the vast suburbs of Las Vegas or those traveling from remote rural areas.
These same factors could threaten the re-election of Nevada Democratic Governor Sisolak. He will face Lombardo, the sheriff of Clark County, who also won the desired approval from Trump.
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Price announced by Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin of New York, Meg Kinard of Charleston, South Carolina, and Gabe Stern of Reno, Nevada, contributed to the report.
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