Adam Laxalt, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign stop at The Pass casino in Henderson Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Laxalt, a former Nevada attorney general, is challenging Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.
Friday, Feb. 4, 2022 | 7:44 p.m.
Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt rallied supporters of his U.S. Senate campaign on Friday night with promises to tighten election security and loosen COVID-19 mandates.
During his America First Tour at Henderson’s Pass Casino, Laxalt said his contest against incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto could determine which party controls the Senate.
“This is our time to harness this energy, harness this frustration and be able to turn our country around,” Laxalt told the group. “We will send a conservative to the U.S. Senate, we will flip Nevada and we will flip the United States Senate.”
Laxalt will face Sam Brown and other hopefuls in the Republican primary on June 14, although he made no mention of his Republican competitors, instead taking swings on Cortez Masto.
About 125 supporters gathered at Laxalt’s campaign event, where local Republican leaders like Jesse Law, chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, sang the National anthem and Carolina Serrano, a GOP congressional candidate running against Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, introduced the different speakers.
Laxalt also talked about open borders contributing to human and fentanyl trafficking, saying about two million people crossed the border illegally in the past year and about 200,000 in December alone (The Sun fact checked this, and it is nearly correct with 1,734,686 people in 2021 and 178,840 in December).
Laxalt didn’t take questions from media in attendance.
“We cannot survive an open border,” Laxalt said, talking about how he met with sheriffs around the state who described “heartbreaking” stories of kids dying from fentanyl overdoses and human traffickings.
He accused media outlets of being biased by not writing about high crime rates and catering to Democrats like Gov. Steve Sisolak by not challenging his decision to close churches but keep casinos open during the pandemic. (Casinos and churches were shuttered for 89 days. When casinos reopened, houses of worship were capped at 50 churchgoers).
“Did they ever ask for the science behind that?” he said. “I didn’t see the science.”
Additionally, Laxalt continued to campaign on false claims of irregularities and fraud during the 2020 presidential election won by President Joe Biden over Donald trump. Laxalt led the charge in Nevada to file many lawsuits challenging the results, all of which found no fraud.
Andy Orellana, spokesperson for Nevada Democratic Victory, said in a statement that Laxalt is focusing his entire campaign on spreading voter fraud claims “rather than issues affecting Nevada families.
“Like Trump, Laxalt is a failed, corrupt politician who is only focused on getting rich and gaining power, not Nevada,” Orellana said.
