Republican and Democratic Jewish groups launch campaigns in close Nevada Senate race
Nevada Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt joins former U.S. President Donald Trump on stage during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada, Oct. 08, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Democratic and Republican Jewish groups are campaigning in the Nevada U.S. Senate race, where the state’s substantial Jewish community could help make the difference in a close contest.
Adam Laxalt, the state’s former attorney general, is seeking to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
The Republican Jewish Coalition’s political action committee has hired a field staffer in Nevada and is running a phone bank and door-knocking operation to benefit Adam Laxalt, according to RJC director Matt Brooks.
The RJC staged a rally for Laxalt in Las Vegas on Sept. 28, which was attended by Miri Adelson, the widow of Jewish casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and one of the GOP’s leading donors.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Democratic Council of America’s affiliated PAC on Wednesday launched a 30-second video ad tying Laxalt, the former state attorney general, to former President Donald Trump, antisemitism, extremist violence, stringent anti-abortion measures, and guns.
“This is where Adam Laxalt will take America,” says the ad, which will reach Jewish voters and Independents on digital platforms. It includes an image of a memorial to the 11 Jewish worshippers massacred in their Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
Laxalt has embraced some of Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. His communications director, Courtney Holland, was among those marching on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a protest spurred by Trump’s lies that culminated in deadly violence.
Laxalt opposes abortion in most cases while saying state legislatures should determine abortion laws. He backs the removal of restrictions on gun ownership.
The ad’s reference to Laxalt’s purported support for the antisemitic and racist “great replacement theory” is based on a Democratic-aligned news site’s analysis of Laxalt’s immigration policy.
Voter research shows Laxalt and Cortez Masto essentially tied. Nevada’s Jewish community numbers close to 80,000 people, a constituency that could make the difference in a close election.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
