Laxalt slams Cortez Masto over economy in Senate campaign stop

Former Nevada attorney general and U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt blasted Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto at a campaign stop on Saturday for backing policies that he said hurt the economy.

“Nevada needs a champion, and Nevada doesn’t have a champion today in Catherine Cortez Masto,” Laxalt said outside the Nevada Republican Party headquarters in Las Vegas, as he wrapped up the southern swing of his statewide tour.

Nevada’s 2022 Senate race is of national importance because it could swing control of an evenly divided Senate back to the GOP.

Laxalt said Cortez Masto is bad for small businesses, bad for Hispanic communities and supports policies that stop people from returning to work and the economy from rebounding.

“I am ready to stand with our workers,” he said. “I’m ready to stand with our middle class. I’m ready to stand with our small businesses and make sure that we can achieve the Nevada dream that we all believe in.”

During the event, he linked Cortez Masto to Nevada’s worst-in-the-country unemployment rate of 7.7 percent as of August.

Laxalt said the most important thing for the country to do now is to stop spending and stop government programs that he said do not incentivize work.

Andy Orellana, a spokesman for Nevada Democrats’ coordinated campaign, said in a statement that Cortez Masto worked tirelessly to pass a job-creating $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.

“Meanwhile, Adam Laxalt has dedicated his campaign to attacking that bill and the many good-paying jobs it would deliver across the state,” he said. “Laxalt is a right-wing extremist focused only on pandering to Trump, and Nevadans will reject his job-killing agenda once again.”

Laxalt has said he opposes the legislation, telling reporters on Saturday that only a fraction of the bill addresses infrastructure needs. He said it contains measures that are “too intrusive,” overregulate the economy, push a liberal agenda and will increase inflation.

The bill received 19 Republican votes in the Senate in August.

Cortez Masto, also a former attorney general, has said those who oppose the bill are against new jobs and economic growth for Nevada.

The infrastructure bill is stalled in the House as Democrats debate a larger social spending package.

Laxalt said Cortez Masto should be standing against the larger bill, in part, because it will increase taxes. The senator’s campaign said she has led efforts to ensure the package focuses on middle-class tax cuts.

Asked how Cortez Masto could be blamed for Nevada’s tourism-heavy economy suffering under a pandemic, Laxalt said other states handled the public health crisis differently.

Nevada’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts were decided at the state level, not by federal lawmakers.

“(Cortez Masto) could have chose to stand with workers and stand with our tourism community,” he said. “We did not need to be locked down. We did not need draconian measures.”

Instead, Laxalt said, Cortez Masto stood with Gov. Steve Sisolak.

Cortez Masto’s campaign said the senator secured funding in the American Rescue Plan to help tourism-dependent states that have suffered through the pandemic, such as Nevada.

Before Laxalt can face Cortez Masto in the general election, he will need to win the Republican primary. He faces multiple candidates in that contest.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.