Catherine Cortez Masto is the clear choice for US Senate over Adam Laxalt

Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022 | 2 a.m.

The past six years have laid bare the power of the U.S. Senate.

Prior to 2020, when Republicans controlled the Senate, they used their majorities to approve the nominations of religious zealots to lifetime appointments on the federal court. They raised taxes on the poor while giving tax breaks to billionaire “job creators.” And they ensured that disgraced President Donald Trump would never face an impeachment trial conducted in anything but a sham manner.

Since 2020, Democrats used the razor-thin tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris to pass landmark legislation that is lowering health care and prescription costs and investing in our aging infrastructure.

Both versions of the Senate took bold meaningful action to realize the world they wanted to see. But their visions are very different.

That’s why this year’s Senate elections are so important. And Nevada is at the center of the battle for control. Polls show that the outcome of the race between Catherine Cortez Masto and Adam Laxalt is likely to determine which political party controls the Senate. The outcome is likely to determine which party’s vision comes to pass.

Do we move forward toward a society that fights for the middle class, upholds institutions of democracy and defends civil rights? Or move backwards, inching closer to the religious autocracy the Founding Fathers feared?

Fortunately, Nevada is home to one of the most qualified incumbents for U.S. Senate in recent history. Like her predecessor, Harry Reid, Catherine Cortez Masto has proven she will deliver for Nevadans.

In her first term, Cortez Masto successfully passed numerous bipartisan public safety and public health bills, including a bill cosponsored with Republicans Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt intended to address rising rates of police suicide.

She also went to bat for seniors and those on Medicare, staunchly defending against massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare proposed by the Trump administration in 2020. And she played a critical role in the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The act lowers prescriptions drug prices, caps insulin costs at a maximum of $35 per month and caps annual out-of-pocket expenses at a maximum of $2,000 for those on Medicare.

Perhaps more impressively, in a political system that too often puts party ahead of people, Cortez Masto broke from her party and defended key Nevada farming, ranching and mining interests that are essential to the state’s current economic health.

In short, she was the single most effective first-term senator in the United States, according to the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

With degrees in both finance and law, plus experience as both a prosecutor and Nevada attorney general, Cortez Masto understands relationships between wealth, opportunity and crime. She was unapologetic in taking a tough-on-crime stance that acknowledged the existence of predators while also acknowledging the struggles of communities that are desperate for resources, opportunities and a chance at a better future.

This nuanced understanding of societal needs could also be seen in her pursuit of a safe and secure southern border. While successfully fighting for technology, resources and funding to protect border patrol agents and prevent illegal border crossings, Cortez Masto also advocated for treating new arrivals with dignity. She recognized the terrible circumstances they left behind and the perilous journey they undertook to find a better life.

Similarly, she advocated that undocumented immigrants already in the United States, especially those Dreamers who have never known a home outside of the U.S., should be respected and valued for the important contributions they make to our communities, culture and economy.

We believe her unprecedented success comes from her commitment to listening to Nevadans, building strong bipartisan coalitions and patiently awaiting opportunities for change.

We have no doubt she will continue to develop thoughtful public policy that will stand the test of time. And we’re not alone. Cortez Masto’s collaborative attitude earned her a rare combination of endorsements that include everyone from national environmental groups and social- and economic-justice organizations to the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers and Professional Firefighters of Nevada.

With control of the Senate likely determining the future of civil rights and liberties in the U.S., every Senate seat matters.

While Cortez Masto is a case study in what good governance can look like when our elected leaders listen, learn and relentlessly advocate for the good of all Nevadans, Adam Laxalt is a case study in the dangerous evolution of the Republican Party.

Laxalt’s grandfather, former Nevada governor and U.S. senator Paul Laxalt was a Republican known for working across the aisle to build coalitions and identify compromises. He negotiated with then-Sen. Joe Biden, was a champion of public education and led the charge to purge extremists from the Republican Party.

Unfortunately, anyone voting for Adam Laxalt because of fond memories of his grandfather or the Laxalt name will be sorely surprised to learn that Adam is not his grandfather. In fact, Adam Laxalt’s own family didn’t endorse him. Fourteen members of his family went out of their way to co-author a letter endorsing his opponent, Cortez Masto.

But this shouldn’t be surprising. Laxalt doesn’t care about Nevada or Nevadans. He cares about himself. You can see it in his campaign tactics and publicly stated policies.

He invited Rick Perry, the former energy secretary and staunch advocate for storing weapons-grade nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, to stump for him.

He asserted baseless claims of large-scale voter fraud and election denialism without any evidence.

He has made it clear that he will oppose efforts to ensure all Nevadans can exercise their right to vote.

And he said he would have opposed the bipartisan infrastructure bill that is funding wildfire-reduction efforts, recycling water for 500,000 Nevada homes and bringing thousands of high-paying jobs to the state.

When asked about his opposition, Laxalt acknowledged that the bill would create good-paying new jobs in Nevada but said it was bad because those jobs “would compete directly with certain Nevada businesses who already can’t find workers.” He then blamed Democrats for “the worst unemployment of any state in the nation.”

Reread that.

In the span of two sentences, he argues that good-paying jobs are bad, claims that there aren’t enough workers to fill all the open jobs we already have, and simultaneously that there aren’t enough jobs to employ all the workers. This is a person who wants to be a U.S. senator. Yet his statements are inconsistent and nonsensical.

In short, Laxalt is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who cares about nothing other than his own personal power and political ambitions. He’s running on his grandfather’s name while destroying his grandfather’s legacy.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Catherine Cortez Masto, is a highly effective senator who listens to Nevadans, builds consensus and gets things done. There is no question that she deserves a second term. We offer our strongest possible endorsement to the country’s most effective first-term senator, Catherine Cortez Masto.