‘A lot done in her short life’: longtime lobbyist Neena Laxalt dies

Kathleen “Neena” Laxalt, a longtime Nevada lobbyist and daughter of former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Paul Laxalt, has died after a battle with colon cancer. She was 67.

“She was one of the best lobbyists in the building,” said Marlene Lockard, a friend who worked with Laxalt in the Legislature. “Not a show horse, but a work horse. She got the job done for her clients. … And Neena was absolutely one of the kindest, sweetest people I’ve met.”

Laxalt served as a lobbyist for a swath of Nevada organizations, including the dental hygienists association, the cattlemen’s association, physical therapy board and the board of psychological examiners, according to the Nevada Legislature Lobbyist Site.

Considered a mentor and mother figure to the new generation of lobbyists, Laxalt volunteered to walk young lobbyists through the legislative website and showed them how to navigate the session, Lockard said.

She made sure everyone felt welcome in the Legislature, which could be intimidating for young women, Lockard said. Laxalt also initiated regular lobbyist lunches where they’d get together and trade stories, she said.

Lockard remembers when her goddaughter, another lobbyist, gave her first testimony during the Legislature one day. When she finished, Laxalt gave her a Nevada necklace from the gift shop to commemorate the event, Lockard said.

“That’s the type of person Neena was: just behind the scenes supportive, always there for anybody that needed help and assistance,” Lockard said. “She was just solid, absolutely solid.”

While many lobbyists focused on relationships with legislators, Laxalt built strong relationships with legislative staff, from committee secretaries to Legislative Counsel Bureau staff, said Paul Klein, a lobbyist who worked with Laxalt.

“She developed really strong and valuable relationships with all those staff, and she really knew the legislative process like the back of her hand,” Klein said.

Laxalt is also known for her “spunky” personality and her “take no bull——” attitude, according to her friend Randi Thompson, who has known Laxalt since the 1980s when Thompson interned for her father, then one of Nevada’s most prominent GOP leaders.

“She just expected the best of people,” said Thompson, a Reno resident. “She had a bar and you met it, or you didn’t stay friends. I love that about her. There’s not a lot of people that do that often enough, I think. Life’s short in her case, so why spend it with people you don’t love, admire or respect?”

She was very proud of the Laxalt family name and what her family stood for, Thompson said.

In 2014, Laxalt announced she was quitting the GOP after 30 years with the party and registering as a nonpartisan, and as the aunt of former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, she made waves when she endorsed her nephew’s Democratic opponents in races for attorney general, including Aaron Ford in 2018 and Ross Miller in 2014.

“Neena Laxalt was a woman of deep conviction and unwavering principles,” Ford said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “She cared fiercely about her community and always led with compassion, grace, and strength. … I know that her absence will be deeply felt across the Silver State. My heart is with her family and all who loved her.”

During the Legislature, Laxalt pushed for bills relating to medical reforms, including a bill in 2005 that required doctors to to report to their licensing boards all injuries and deaths that occurred during office-based surgeries.

Laxalt was also passionate about her Basque heritage. When the Legislature discussed an effort to name a state dog in 2013, she was adamant it had to be a border collie, Lockard said. Her grandfather, Dominique Laxalt, used border collies to herd sheep 100 years ago in the mountains outside Carson City, according to a previous Review-Journal report.

She also took on roles showcasing Nevada’s history. In 2013, she served as vice chair of the state’s Nevada 150 planning committee, which commemorated the 150th anniversary of Nevada’s statehood.

“She got a lot done in her short life,” Thompson said. “She made a difference. She really was just an amazing person, wanting to see people pursue a career of lobbying.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.