DSCC Statement on Laxalt’s Litigation Plans To Undermine 2022 Election in Nevada

AP reveals Laxalt already planning to use Trump-Big-Lie election playbook this cycle

In response to yesterday’s Associated Press report that failed politician Adam Laxalt is preemptively preparing litigation to try to manipulate the 2022 election and make it harder to vote, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Jazmin Vargas released the following statement:

“Laxalt knows he can’t defend his record of pushing Trump’s interests and those of his special interest donors over hardworking Nevadans, so 14 months before the election he’s already plotting to revive the Trump playbook –– threatening self-serving lawsuits in an effort to make it harder for Nevadans to vote. Nevadans see right through Laxalt’s corrupt and dishonest tactics and will reject him again in 2022.”

Yesterday’s AP report detailed Laxalt’s admission that he is preemptively preparing litigation to try and influence the election outcome, limit Nevadans’ voting rights and potentially overturn the election results when he loses. This isn’t the first time Laxalt has attempted to use litigation to undermine our democracy for his own political interests: Laxalt led Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Nevada and “orchestrated a slew of failed lawsuits meant to stop the ballot tally.” A federal judge, the Nevada Supreme Court, and Nevada’s Republican Secretary of State all ruled there was no evidence of widespread fraud. 

Read more about Laxalt’s efforts to make it harder for Nevadans to vote for his own self-serving political gain:

Associated Press: Laxalt hints at legal fights ahead of 2022 US Senate race
By Sam Metz
September 7, 2021

Key Points: 

• More than 14 months before the midterm elections, the Republican frontrunner in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race is raising fears of voter fraud and talking about preemptively mounting legal challenges — a sign that the election denialism that marked the last cycle may carry over into the next.

• “With me at the top of the ticket, we’re going to be able to get everybody at the table and come up with a full plan, do our best to try to secure this election, get as many observers as we can, and file lawsuits early, if there are lawsuits we can file to try to tighten up the election,” he told radio host Wayne Allyn Root on Aug. 24.

• In 2020, he co-chaired Trump’s Nevada campaign, which mounted lawsuits in state and federal courts — challenging rules before the election and later the results. Laxalt has said the 2020 election was “rigged” and legal challenges failed because they were filed too late.

• Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said investigations found no credible reports of widespread election fraud or tampering. She assured voters that the results in Nevada were accurate and reliable.

• Assurances have done little to deter Laxalt and others. Last month, at Laxalt’s Basque Fry fundraiser, former Trump presidential envoy Ric Grenell and American Conservation Union Chairman Matt Schlapp repeated false claims that Trump won the election in Nevada while Laxalt watched from the sidelines.

• Laxalt did not respond to questions about… whether he would accept the results of the 2022 election.

KTVN: 

“Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Adam Laxalt is talking about preemptively mounting legal challenges against the 2022 midterm elections.”

KRNV:

“More than 14 months away from the 2022 midterm elections, Republican Adam Laxalt is raising fears of voter fraud and talking about preemptively mounting legal challenges… He is one of many GOP candidates committed to the false narrative that the last election was stolen.”

KLAS:

“Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt continues to say the 2020 election was stolen… According to the AP, Laxalt said on a radio show election fraud lawsuits were filed too late. Courts and officials from both parties have said the election was accurate and secure.”

MSNBC: Republicans stick with ‘election denialism’ in post-2020 races

• More than 14 months before the midterm elections, the Republican frontrunner in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race is raising fears of voter fraud and talking about preemptively mounting legal challenges — a sign that the election denialism that marked the last cycle may carry over into the next.

• “With me at the top of the ticket, we’re going to be able to get everybody at the table and come up with a full plan, do our best to try to secure this election, get as many observers as we can, and file lawsuits early, if there are lawsuits we can file to try to tighten up the election,” Laxalt said on a conservative talk show two weeks ago.

• The calendar adds important context: Nevada’s U.S. Senate primary election is still nine months away. The state’s general election is 14 months away.

• And yet, the likely Republican Party nominee in one of the nation’s most competitive 2022 Senate contests is already raising baseless concerns about election integrity and making plans to “file lawsuits early.”

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