Biden backlash in Nevada raises Republicans’ hopes of taking back Senate in 2022

“Nevada is a purple state, and it’s always competitive,” Cortez Masto told CNN, noting she won by just two points in her first win in 2016. “Mitch McConnell sees Nevada as a top pick up opportunity. He and his allies have already spent millions of dollars against me so far.”

Asked about Biden’s low approval rating, she said people care about issues like the economy, health care, education and child care — not the President’s standing.

“When I am home, when I talk to Nevadans, it isn’t about the President of the United States,” Cortez Masto said.

The money has been pouring in from both sides: $9 million has already been dumped on the air, according to a media buyer involved in a race.

But Laxalt is favored to win the GOP nomination after earning the support of his party’s leaders. In August, Trump endorsed Laxalt, the grandson of former Nevada Governor and Senator Paul Laxalt, saying, “He fought valiantly against the Election Fraud, which took place in Nevada.”

Laxalt is now focused on turning his Senate campaign into a referendum on Biden’s presidency.

“With massive job losses, rising violent crime, and sky-high inflation, Nevada has experienced the failures of Joe Biden’s agenda more than any other state,” Laxalt said in a statement. “Catherine Cortez Masto enables the woke left as they lead our country into stagnation and decline.”

Laxalt added: “Nevada will be the 51st seat in a new Republican Senate majority when we defeat Masto.”

“There’s going to be a real choice in this election,” Cortez Masto told CNN.

The Democrats control the 50-50 Senate only with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. They are hoping to protect their incumbents and pad their majority by winning seats in those battleground states, including in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where the incumbent Republicans are retiring and leaving behind messy primaries.

Cortez Masto later said she would want Biden campaigning for her.

“The President is an important part in delivering everything I just talked about—from tax cuts to Nevadans and helping us overcome the pandemic,” Cortez Masto said. “And we need to continue to work together for our communities, not just in Nevada but across the country.”

Abortion access could come to the forefront of 2022 contests if the Supreme Court weakens or even strikes down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion, in cases next year. In 1990, Nevada passed a referendum allowing for abortions within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, limiting the effect of the Supreme Court rulings in that state.

But Democrats like Cortez Masto will be sure to attack Republicans like Laxalt for opposing abortion rights at a time when they are threatened. “In my election, I think Nevada should be asking candidates for every office what they’ll do to protect these rights, and those who oppose reproductive rights should be held accountable at the ballot box as they have been before,” she told CNN.

Megan Jones, a veteran Nevada Democratic strategist who worked on Cortez Masto’s 2016 race and former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s campaigns, pointed to Reid’s shocking 2010 victory over Republican candidate Sharron Angle, in a terrible year for Democrats.

“We know how to win in Nevada,” said Jones. “If they think this is the seat that the majority runs through, come and get us. We’re ready to go.”

But Republicans dismiss the comparisons from a dozen years ago.

“Catherine Cortez Masto is no Harry Reid,” said Robert Uithoven, a Laxalt adviser. “And Adam Laxalt is no Sharron Angle.”