The Laxalt Laxative: Friends in High Places Come to Nevada

(Chuck Muth) – Adam “Trump Endorsed” Laxalt, former Nevada attorney general and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, has had a banner last few days, featuring campaign appearances by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The visits exemplify the DC connections Laxalt has built up over the years, trading on the political insider advantages he has as an elite creature of the Swamp.

But there still exists a wide disconnect from the politically connected back East and many Nevada Republicans, as detailed by a pair of media quotes last week…

• “There is a segment of the Republican Party that simply does not like Adam Laxalt and is looking for a viable alternative. Many people think they’ve found that in Sam Brown … The fact that Brown has raised what really is an incredible amount of money for a candidate who is essentially unknown in the state is significant … People do not like Laxalt – people do not respond well to him – so they’re looking at someone else, they’re looking for an alternative.” – Steve Sebelius, Las Vegas Review-Journal

• “Establishment Republicans [in Nevada] think Laxalt is a bad candidate … He is not a good candidate. He is not familiar with the many issues in the state.  [Sam Brown] has a compelling story to tell – this badly scarred veteran, hero. … He’s raised more than a million dollars for the last three quarters, which in Nevada is a decent amount of money … I think there’s a potential for Brown to pull off an upset.” – Jon Ralston, Nevada Independent

Indeed, the problem for Laxalt – whose race this is to lose – is that while lots of Republicans turned out to see Cruz and DeSantis, that love does not necessarily transfer to Laxalt.

And Donald Trump’s controversial endorsement this week of GOP gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo raises new questions about the wisdom of Trump’s endorsement of Laxalt, which is pretty much the only card Laxalt has been playing in the race.

But it might be all he needs.

While Brown has stunned the political world with his fundraising prowess, his campaign’s messaging and strategy has yet to reach wildfire status.  The Nevada Globe reports today on a new poll showing Laxalt up by 37 points in the primary contest.  Even if the poll is off by 20 points, that’s still a big lead.

Is an upset still possible?  Sure.

But with less than four weeks before early voting and mail-in ballots hit mailboxes, time is running out.  Might be time for Team Brown to pull the goalie and throw some Hail Marys (how’s that for a mixed metaphor?).

Join Me for the Big CD2 Debate in Reno!

After speaking to the Mt. Rose Republican Women’s Club in Reno a few weeks ago, I was asked if I’d come back up to speak at the Republican Women of Reno’s luncheon on May 12^th to talk about all the GOP primary races coming up in June.

However…

The club has since invited all five of the Republican candidates running for Nevada’s 2^nd Congressional District – currently represented by Mark Amodei, who is running for re-election – to participate in a one-hour panel discussion/debate and asked if I’d moderate.

Oh, heck yeah!

But let me tell you what I’m NOT going to do.  I’m not going to ask the kinds of loaded questions liberal fake news moderators ask Republicans in primary debates designed to hurt the Republicans in the general election.

So if you’re hoping I’ll ask the candidates if Joe Biden won the 2020 election (he did, officially, but the election was rigged), you’re gonna be disappointed.  If that’s what you’re looking for, go to a debate moderated by liberal blubber-blogger Jon Ralston.

The invited candidates are Amodei, Danny Tarkanian, Brian Nadell, Joel Beck and Cathy Sampson.

The luncheon will be held on Thursday, May 12, at the Atlantis Hotel/Casino at 5800 S. Virginia Street in Reno from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.  To purchase your tickets – and you better do it FAST before they sell out – call Cindy Sassenrath at (797) 621-2009 or email her at escapella@gmail.com.

Quick Hits

* Morning reports coming to me from the Nevada GOP convention in Las Vegas seem to confirm my worst fears about the fouled-up pre-primary endorsement process the party has implemented.  What a fuster-cluck.  And it’s not like they weren’t warned.  Lots of egg on party leaders’ faces.  Republicans never blow an opportunity to blow an opportunity.

* Elon Musk buys Twitter.  Joe Biden responds by creating a Ministry of Truth within the Department of Homeland Security.  For those of us who warned against creating DHS after 9/11, this comes as no real surprise.  Typical government agency mission creep.

* GOP gubernatorial candidate Fred Simon, desperate to gain attention, has a new radio ad out claiming fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert had nothing to do with the lawsuit that resulted in Sisolak being forced to fully reopen our churches ten days before Christmas in 2020.  The claim is a demonstrable lie.

Election ’22 Update

The AFL-CIO has released its candidate endorsements for 2022.  As best as I can figure, they only endorsed ONE Republican; Gerald Swanson for Assembly District 19.  That pretty much tells me all I need to know about Mr. Swanson.

AD19 is currently represented by Assemblywoman Annie Black, who’s running for Congress.  She’s endorsed Amy Groves as the best “Annie Black Republican” to replace her in the Legislature.  #MeToo

RINO Hunt ‘22

P.K. O’Neill, representing Assembly District 40 in Carson City, is the only remaining Republican in the Assembly who voted for the largest tax hike in Nevada history in 2015.  He’s being challenged by conservative activist Gary Schmidt in the GOP primary.

O’Neill supporters keep telling me O’Neill has apologized for that vote.  Not really.  He only complains that the tax-hike money didn’t go into the black hole known as Nevada’s public schools like he said he was promised.

Sorry, Charlie. That dog won’t hunt.  Raising taxes to give more money to the teacher’s union is even worse than raising taxes for general purposes.  How is this guy Freedom Caucus material?

But here’s the biggie…

*IF* O’Neill’s regret is sincere, then why hasn’t he, as Schmidt has done, put his money where his mouth is by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge?  Considering the fact that he’s already betrayed taxpayers once on a major tax hike, there’s simply no way on God’s green earth anyone should take his wishy-washy oral word on this.

As Chief Engineer Scotty of the USS Enterprise famously said, “Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.”  I won’t be fooled by P.K. again.  How about you?

The Smell of Fear

• “Yesterday, our team emailed you to break the news that our far-right opponents launched terrible new ads and have MILLIONS to spread them across Nevada. I thought we’d see a surge of support to help us fight back, but the truth is… no one is donating!” – Eva Black, Finance Director, Sisolak for Governor, 4/27/22

• “The situation couldn’t get any worse. Look, I haven’t been this worried in a long time. My team just showed me the Democrats fundraising numbers and we’re still way behind.” – Adam Laxalt, 4/30/22

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“I, for one, am enraged by the sinister @elonmusk plot to allow ordinary citizens – many without PHDs, let alone NYT subscriptions – to freely express themselves & question the unblemished wisdom of politicians, gov’t experts, even CEOs. This is the dark & dangerous road to democracy.” – Stephen Miller

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com