Fourteen relatives of Republican Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt announced their support for his Democratic opponent on Wednesday, The Nevada Independent reports.
The relatives in a three-page letter did not even mention Laxalt by name but praised incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto for her positions on women’s issues, public land preservation, and a federal mining tax.
“We believe that Catherine possesses a set of qualities that clearly speak of what we like to call ‘Nevada grit,’” the letter said, adding that “no further comments will be made, as we believe this letter speaks for itself.”
Laxalt is the grandson of former Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt, who also served in the Senate.
The race is one of the closest in the country and could determine which party controls the chamber next year.
Not the first time:
This is the second time members of Laxalt’s family opposed his candidacy, though the numbers have grown.
Laxalt, who previously served as the state’s attorney general, ran for governor in 2018. Twelve of his family members at the time published an op-ed opposing his candidacy, arguing that he had “leveraged and exploited the family name.”
At the time, the op-ed prompted another 22 members of Laxalt’s family to publish their own letter defending his candidacy.
Laxalt responds:
“It’s not surprising that once again a handful of family members and spouses, half of whom do not live in Nevada, and most of whom are Democrats, are supporting a Democrat,” Laxalt wrote on Twitter. “They think that Nevada & our country are heading in the right direction. I believe Nevadans don’t agree with the Biden/Masto agenda of high gas prices, soaring inflation, rising crime, and an open border.”
