Adam Laxalt, a Republican, is predicted to lose Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in the key Nevada Senate election.
According to projections from Decision Desk HQ, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Republican Sen. Adam Laxalt in one of the most important Senate races of the 2022 midterm elections. This indicates that the Senate is expected to be ruled by Democrats.
After serving two terms as attorney general, Cortez Masto, the first and only Latina in the U.S. Senate, was first elected to the body in 2016. She filled the seat long occupied by the influential former senator Harry Reid, who established a potent political machine in the state.
Laxalt, a descendant of a political family from Nevada whose grandfather and father both served in the Senate, succeeded Cortez Masto as attorney general and unsuccessfully ran against Gov. Steve Sisolak for governor in 2018. Laxalt also had a significant impact on the former president Donald Trump’s and his associates’ attempts to rig the Nevada 2020 presidential election.
Decision Desk HQ predicted that Sisolak will lose the race to Republican Joe Lombardo.
In Nevada, where working-class and Latinx voters are crucial voting blocs crucial to any state-wide candidate’s chances of victory, the health of the economy and abortion dominated the discourse in races up and down the ballot. A crucial test of the so-called Reid Machine’s ability to consistently carry Democrats in the state to victories across the board came in the 2022 elections.
The COVID-19 epidemic had a particularly negative impact on the state’s economy, which is primarily dependent on the tourism and hospitality sectors, with inflation, higher gas prices, and growing cost of living issues playing a significant role in the Nevada Senate election.
While attacking Laxalt as being extremist and out of sync on issues like abortion and democracy in particular, Cortez Masto ran her campaign on her track record of getting economic help for Nevada’s economy.
Laxalt underlined that abortion is still protected by law in Nevada but termed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June “a historic triumph for the sanctity of life.”
In a statement, he stated that “the people of Nevada have already chosen to legalise abortion rights in our state, and the Court’s decision on Roe doesn’t change established law and it won’t divert voters from skyrocketing prices, increasing crime, or the border problem.”
Laxalt and his team have categorically denied that they back any federal limitations on abortion, including Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal for a national 15-week abortion ban. The Nevada Independent noted that he has mainly avoided discussing the topic of abortion while campaigning, instead concentrating on the economy, the border, and associating Cortez Masto with President Joe Biden.
Super PACs for leading pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion groups have spent millions of dollars on outside advertising, canvassing, and mailers in Nevada’s Senate campaign in an effort to convince voters.
Following Kelly’s victory over Republican Blake Masters in Arizona, the wait for Nevada has begun.
The Senate will remain in Democratic hands if Cortez Masto wins. If Laxalt triumphs, the nation will once more look to a runoff in Georgia to decide the composition of the chamber.
On Saturday, Laxalt admitted that the count is moving in his opponent’s favour.
“This is where we stand; we are barely ahead by 862 votes. The majority of mail-in ballots that have been counted consistently result in bigger DEM margins than expected, he tweeted. “This has made our window of victory smaller. 20–30K Clark drop-off ballots on Election Day will decide the winner.
“If they are GOP precincts or somewhat DEM leaning, then we can still win,” Laxalt continued. She will surpass us if they keep trending heavily toward DEM.