Laxalt enjoyed the support of some of the most prominent figures in the Republican Party, from former President Donald Trump to GOP Senate Chairman Mitch McConnell and Florida Gov. Ron de Sandis. But a last-ditch challenge from newcomer politician Sam Brown has forced Laxalt to spend the last few weeks of his campaign and build on the support of some of his high-profile supporters, especially those with ties to Trump. The confrontation with Cortez Masto comes at a difficult time for Democrats, burdened by President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings and seeking to maintain control of Congress as people across the United States struggle with rising prices for everyday goods. and gasoline. Republicans see the race as the best opportunity to overturn a Senate seat and regain a majority, but they are also watching for a long-term message that Nevada is turning backwards after rejecting any candidate for the 2004 GOP presidency. “Together we have taken an important step tonight,” Laxalt said at an election night in Reno, Nevada. “An important step in taking our country back, an important step in taking our great state of Nevada.” In addition to the Senate race, Republicans in Nevada have also chosen Joe Lombardo as their candidate to challenge incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in one of the most competitive governorship races this year. And the GOP backed Jim Marchant as its candidate for foreign minister. A former state lawmaker, he has repeated false allegations about the presidential campaign and, if elected, will be responsible for elections in a state that could be crucial in determining the White House winner in 2024. Nevada was one of many states that held elections Tuesday, about the middle of the qualifying season that could reshape American politics. The results provided warnings for both parties. In South Texas, Democrats lost a seat in the US House of Representatives. It is possible that they will recover it in November, but Tuesday’s results reminded that the party’s position is in danger of slipping among the Latins. Trump, meanwhile, has helped a South Carolina lawmaker remove incumbent Tom Rice, who’s five-year-old lawmaker, who backed the former president’s second term last year. While the victory could help Trump regain momentum after failing in a series of races last month, it happened in a rural, well-established Republican district of Congress. Another establishment that the former president tried to defeat in a neighboring neighborhood, MP Nancy Mace, held back the challenger, attracting some of the suburban moderates who left the GOP during the Trump era. Speaking to reporters after the results were announced, Mays sought to reach a tone of consensus, pledging to “work with anyone who is willing to work with me, okay.” For his part, Trump posted a statement on his social media platform saying that Mays’ challenge to Katie Arrington was a “long shot” that ran a “great fight.” He offered his congratulations to Mays, who said he should easily prevail over a Democrat in the fall. However, much of the attention on Tuesday was in Nevada. Laxalt entered the primaries with strong name recognition after serving for four years as Nevada Attorney General. The grandson of former US Senator Paul Laxalt, he ran an unsuccessful campaign for the governor in 2018. But perhaps most important in GOP circles, he has ties to Trump. Laxalt worked on Trump’s re-election campaign and promoted his electoral fraud in the state after the 2020 election, including the culmination of legal challenges in the vote-counting process. Trump, in turn, hosted Laxalt for a fundraiser at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared on a Laxalt advertising campaign. Trump’s false allegations of fraud in the 2020 election have been circulating throughout the election campaign. Last fall, Laxalt began raising fears of voter fraud in 2022 and spoke of precautionary legal challenges “to try to strengthen the election.” Laxalt had insisted in 2020 that ineligible and dead voters cast ballots in the Nevada presidential election, despite the state’s Republican secretary of state insisting that the results showing Biden’s victory were accurate and credible. To the surprise of many in the state, Brown won the approval of the Nevada Republican Party in a congressional vote in late April and a straw ballot poll by the Las Vegas GOP at a May rally. Recent polls have shown that he is close to Laxalt, although the state, with a transient population and many shift workers due to state tourism and the casino industry, is considered unstable by pollsters. Laxalt is now focusing on defeating Cortez Masto, the first Latina to be elected to the Senate and successor to the late Senator Harry Reed. She is running for her first re-election as Democrats generally face headwinds this year, especially in the economy. In Nevada, high gas prices are strongly felt by residents of large Las Vegas suburbs or those moving from remote rural areas. These same factors could jeopardize the re-election of Nevada Democratic Gov. Sisolak. He will face Lombardo, Clark County Sheriff, who has also won much-coveted support from Trump.
Price quoted from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York, Meg Kinnard in Charleston, South Carolina, and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada, contributed to this report.
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