2 Nevada Republicans have a new favorite for president

A couple of well-known Nevada Republicans are backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 instead of former President Donald Trump.

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a longtime Trump ally who co-chaired the Trump campaign in Nevada in 2020, has been named chair of the Never Back Down political action committee, the fundraising group that is encouraging DeSantis to run for president.

“America and Nevada need a strong, proven, conservative leader to bring our nation into the next generation and that leader is my friend Governor DeSantis,” Laxalt said in a written statement. “I have known him for 20 years, and I guarantee he will be our voice and never back down.”

Laxalt was unavailable for an interview, according to Erin Perrine, communications director for Never Back Down.

DeSantis and Laxalt were roommates in naval officer training, and became friends, supporting each other in their political endeavors. When Laxalt ran for U.S. Senate in 2022, DeSantis campaigned in Las Vegas, and Laxalt did the same for DeSantis’ run for governor.

Trump was a key endorsement for Laxalt’s unsuccessful campaigns for Senate in 2022 and for governor in 2018. The former president came out to Nevada on multiple occasions to support Laxalt, who used Trump’s endorsement as a major talking point of his 2022 primary campaign and made a couple of appearances at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida to fundraise for his Senate campaign.

In March 2022, during the Senate campaign, Laxalt said in a statement that, “I have President Trump’s endorsement and he has mine for 2024,” according to The Nevada Independent.

Taylor Budowich, a former spokesman for Trump and head of the MAGA Inc. political action committee that raises funds for Trump’s 2024 campaign, said on Twitter that Laxalt is a “proven loser who notoriously micromanaged two winnable races into the ground with his terrible political instincts.”

Ken Cuccinelli, founder at Never Back Down, said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he is excited to welcome Laxalt to the grassroots movement.

“Together, along with the thousands of Americans getting behind Never Back Down to encourage Ron DeSantis to run, we’re going to make sure Governor Ron DeSantis becomes President Ron DeSantis,” Cuccinelli said.

Laxalt is not the only Nevada Republican to declare his support for DeSantis rather than Trump. Robert Bigelow, a major GOP donor based in Las Vegas who funded Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s 2022 campaign, plans to heavily bankroll DeSantis in 2024.

Bigelow, an aeronautics executive and owner of the Budget Suites chain, said he donated more than $20 million to Never Back Down in March, and told Time that is just the start. He was also the single largest donor to DeSantis’ re-election bid in 2022, according to Bloomberg.

DeSantis has not formally announced his run for president, although he is reportedly expected to make the announcement after the Florida Legislature ends its session in May. Still, polls show that Trump is the favored Republican candidate nationally.

A recent poll of 500 Nevadans found DeSantis leading Trump by one point and showed that in a DeSantis vs. Biden race, DeSantis has more favorability, whereas in a Trump vs. Biden race, Biden has more favorability.

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