14 members of Adam Laxalt’s family endorse his opponent for U.S. Senate in Nevada

Fourteen members of Republican Adam Laxalt’s family are endorsing his Democratic opponent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, in the upcoming U.S. Senate election in Nevada.

They announced their support for Cortez Masto in a letter today, citing her roots in Nevada and commitment to the state.

“Catherine is a model of the ‘Nevada grit’ that we so often use to describe our Nevada forefathers,” the family members said in the letter, which does not mention Laxalt by name.

“Her entire career is not a simple ‘sound-bite’ that merely speaks of supporting Nevada. Rather, her entire career demonstrates years of bold actions that she has taken as an authentic advocate of Nevada,” they said.

In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Laxalt said it is “not surprising” that family members, most of whom he said are Democrats, are supporting Cortez Masto.

“They think that Nevada & our country are heading in the right direction. I believe Nevadans don’t agree,” he said.

This is not the first time relatives have publicly opposed Laxalt, the grandson of former Republican Nevada Gov. Paul Laxalt, in an election.

Some family members wrote a guest column in the Reno Gazette-Journal in 2018 when he ran for governor, urging voters to support the eventual winner, now-Gov. Steve Sisolak. That piece more explicitly criticized Laxalt, saying he “leveraged and exploited” the family name throughout his campaign.

The column prompted 22 of Laxalt's family members to send another op-ed, defending Laxalt and calling the other piece “vicious and entirely baseless.”

When he was campaigning for attorney general in 2014, seven members of his family endorsed his Democratic opponent. He won that race.

In this case, Laxalt’s family members pointed to Cortez Masto’s accomplishments in the U.S. Senate and as Nevada attorney general.

She has “expertly defended her Nevada constituents” through her support of homeowners faced with foreclosures, killing taxes that could harm the state’s key industries and preserving and protecting state land, they said.

She is also an advocate for women’s rights in Nevada, they said.

“In so many ways, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto exemplifies what it simply means to be a Nevadan,” the letter said. “She has learned from her home state. She has fought for it. She is proud of it.”

The letter was signed by Kevin Marie Laxalt, K. Neena Laxalt, Kristin Laxalt, Kevan D. Laxalt, Amy Nomura, Kevin Nomura, Meg Laxalt Mackey, Erin Jensen, Michelle Laxalt Strahl, Peter Laxalt, Michelle Therese Laxalt, Brandon Laxalt, Ali Urza and Gabriel Urza.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.