HENDERSON (Nev.) — Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt was a staunch foot soldier in President Donald Trump’s attempts to challenge the 2020 election results.
He’s now being rewarded for his loyalty.
The Trump cavalry arrived in the final days of Tuesday’s Republican U.S. Senate Primary.
Donald Trump Jr. will hold a rally in Las Vegas for Laxalt Friday night. Matt Whitaker, Trump’s former acting attorney-general, will join him on stage.
Laxalt visited northern Nevada door-knocking with Richard Grenell on Wednesday. Grenell was acting director of national Intelligence during Trump’s administration and has been a frequent Laxalt surrogate throughout the campaign. Alex Bruesewitz was also present at the Clark County Laxalt gathering. He is a Trump supporter and helped to organize the rally in Washington on Jan. 6.
“We are at the top of the ticket, and it is our job to excite our base in November and turn out our voters. John Burke, a spokesperson for Laxalt, stated that the campaign has been building on the momentum and grassroots support since day 1. Every event we hold and every surrogate that we have are part of this plan.
Trump called Laxalt supporters on Wednesday to urge them to support his former Nevada presidential campaign cochair.
“We cannot take any chance. Get out there and vote. Voting for any other candidate in the primaries is a vote that will hurt your state and country. It won’t register. Trump stated on the phone, “It’s not going help.”
Laxalt thanked Trump for the call and referred to him as “the President of the United States.”
This call came after prominent Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
After signals last month from retired Army Captain Sam Brown, who was barely mentioned at the start of the race, Laxalt’s campaign crescendo is a sign that progress has been made toward closing the 38-point gap between them.
Now, the contest is down to national MAGA figures against Brown. Brown is a scrappy veteran who appeals to grassroots Republicans both inside and outside Nevada. He has received more than 40,000 individual contributions with his position as an outsider and his personal story of an almost-death experience in Afghanistan which left him disfigured.
Laxalt has a strong name ID due to his past role as a former governor and a former state office holder. Brown will need to continue building on the momentum that he gained last month.
In May, a poll conducted by the Nevada Independent (and OH Predictive Insights), an independent polling company, showed Brown narrowing Laxalt’s lead to just 15 points. According to NBC News, Brown’s campaign claimed that its internal tracking had shown the race as a dead heat.
In a poll of 525 likely Republican primary voters, Laxalt had a 14-point lead over Brown in a new poll published Friday by Nevada Independent and OH Predictive Insights.
The contrast between campaigns and life on Wednesday was perhaps the best illustration of the reality.
As Trump was firing up Laxalt supporters in an telerally on the same day, Brown was walking through Henderson, a suburb outside of Las Vegas. The temperatures were soaring to 111 degrees.
Brown, the GOP’s superstar, walked by himself, with no one else, and hung literature from doorknobs, his sweat clearly visible.
The rare time someone answered the door, he received a warm welcome from his parents as he tended to dinner. Residents who claimed they only vote in the “big elections”, a resident who stated that he liked him, and a voter who was open to talking to him. A homeowner pulled back his dog barking as Brown tried to talk over the noise.
Brown ignored the Laxalt campaign endorsements as he walked through the neatly-kept neighborhood.
“What we have come to realize is that Laxalt, along with his political celebrity friends, are desperate to see a winning campaign. He told NBC News that he is desperate for a winning campaign. “When a campaign has been completely sponsored by D.C. it’s the best they can do. It is impossible to artificially create grassroots support from the ground.
Brown, like Laxalt has been hosting events in the state throughout the last days of the race. He met with a women’s group on Wednesday before he went door-knocking. Then he held a meet and greet near Las Vegas.
Although Laxalt is the favourite to win the primary for many years, Brown shows signs of growing support among grassroots supporters. This can be seen in small dollar donations as well as local party backing.
According to AdImpact, Brown had spent more than half of Laxalt’s TV advertising budget since the race began.
Despite Trump’s initial endorsement of Laxalt in the early weeks, Brown won three GOP straw polls including the state Republican Party, Clark County and the largest county in Nevada.
Laxalt and his associates managed to stop the surge over the last few weeks. Since then, Brown has fallen behind in both fundraising as well as ad spending. Outside groups also contributed more funds to Laxalt’s high-profile events. Three PACs, two of which hadn’t spent money in the race, boosted Laxalt with $300,000. Federal Election Commission figures reveal that these PACs, along with Laxalt, also contributed $300,000. This included funding from Make America Great Again, Again superPAC.
Outside groups have been spending a lot of money late, which has helped to change the TV landscape. According to AdImpact data, Laxalt, along with his allies, are now on track to surpass Brown by two to one. This is based on data that NBC News analyzed. Data shows that there was an increase in resources between May and June, as outside groups joined forces to support Laxalt. The conservative PAC Club for Growth reentered the scene on Thursday and poured $500,000 into TV expenditures.
Brown maintained that he would win Tuesday as Henderson showed an openness to voting for him.
One man listened attentively to Brown’s pitch, and then asked: “Are you conservative?”
Brown agreed to say yes. The man stared at Brown, his face visibly scarred from the life-threatening burns.
