Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt launched a long-expected Senate bid Tuesday, becoming the highest-profile Republican to take on Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
“The radical left, rich elites, woke corporations, academia and the media, they’re taking over America,” Laxalt said in an announcement video likening them to Star Wars’ Galactic Empire.
Laxalt served as attorney general from 2015-2019. In 2018 he lost his bid for governor to Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak.
It’s official. I’m running for the United States Senate. Watch my announcement video and click here to help our campaign! >> https://t.co/k0guHubVAG pic.twitter.com/ufzmq0F48c
— Adam Paul Laxalt (@AdamLaxalt) August 17, 2021
Cortez Masto was first elected in 2016 by about two points, and chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last cycle, when her party won three seats and a narrow Senate majority.
While Nevada is a perennial swing state, Republicans have not won a presidential race there since 2004 and Democrats currently occupy all but one statewide elected office. President Joe Biden won in 2020 by just two points.
Laxalt is not the first Republican to announce a bid, but is the likely favorite to take on Cortez Masto next November given his name ID and electoral history. (RELATED: Conor Lamb Jumps Into Critical Senate Race That Could Determine Balance Of Power)
“The battle to keep our country free doesn’t end,” Laxalt said in his video. “If anything, the stakes are higher now than they’ve ever been in our lifetime. That’s why I’m running for Senate.”
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