“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 his Twitter profile.
“They think that Nevada & our country are heading in the right direction. I believe Nevadans don’t agree…”
Fourteen members of Laxalt’s family have turned their back on the Republican nominee, choosing instead to endorse his rival, Catherine Cortez Masto. In a letter addressed to the Nevada Democratic Senate candidate and incumbent, they praised Cortez Masto for her commitment to law enforcement, her experience in public education and her being “an authentic advocate of Nevada.”
The three-page letter, published by The Nevada Independent, does not name Laxalt focusing solely on Cortez Masto.
“We believe that Catherine possesses a set of qualities that clearly speak of what we like to call ‘Nevada grit,’” the letter reads, saying that “no further comments will be made, as we believe this letter speaks for itself.”
It’s not the first time that Laxalt, who served as the 33rd Nevada Attorney General from 2015 to 2019 and who’s the grandson of governor and senator Paul Laxalt—considered one of Ronald Reagan’s most influential advisers during his presidency—has seen his own family voting against him.
In 2018, during his bid for governor, 12 family members supported his Democratic rival Steve Sisolak.
In an op-ed written for the Reno Gazette Journal, the family members explained why they thought Laxalt was “the wrong choice for Nevada’s governorship.”
In their list of reasons for opposing Laxalt, they said his knowledge of and attachment to Nevada was weak. Although born in Reno, he was raised on the East Coast and moved back to Nevada only after launching his political career. They also cast doubts over Laxalt’s professional background, saying his brief experience as a lawyer had been a “train wreck.”
The op-ed prompted a response from 22 other members of Laxalt’s family, who wrote in support of the Republican politician. Laxalt still lost his bid for governorship to Sisolak, who became the first Democrat to be elected governor of Nevada since 1994.
Newsweek has reached out to Laxalt for comment.
Laxalt and Cortez Masto appear close in the Nevada Senate race in recent polls, though the Democratic candidate is leading. A poll by Suffolk University taken between October 4 to 7 gives Cortez Masto 46 percent support against Laxalt’s 44 percent.
Older polls from end of September gave Laxalt a small lead over Cortez Masto.
