Ex Nevada AGs Laxalt and Cortez Masto, Compare Performances in Key Senate Race

Nevada Republican Adam Laxalt is challenging incumbent Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in one of the nation’s most pivotal—and expensive—tossup showdowns of the 2022 midterms.

At stake on Nov. 8 in the Laxalt-Cortez Masto contest, according to an array of analyses and projections, is control of the now-split U.S. Senate in 2023. 

Both campaigns have staked out partisan territory that would be familiar to voters nationwide. 

Laxalt is pounding away at Cortez Masto and President Joe Biden on economic uncertainties, inflation, and energy policy, while also appealing to fellow veterans on national security issues. 

“Not $5. Not $6. But $7 gas prices seen in Reno!” Laxalt said in a Twitter post on Oct. 4. “Nevada still has the 2nd highest gas prices in the country & Nevadans, the majority of which commute, are forced to pay these prices. America could be energy independent but @CortezMasto & Biden are doing everything to prevent this.”

First-term incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) addresses members of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers union at their 40th Grand Lodge Convention in Las Vegas on Oct. 3, 2022. (Courtesy Catherine Cortez Masto for Senate)

Cortez Masto touts the administration’s response to rising food and fuel costs, telling voters, “I passed the Inflation Reduction Act to cut costs, boost our economy, and create good-paying local jobs for Nevadans.” while vowing to defend access to abortion and accusing Laxalt of being an election denier.

“@AdamLaxalt and his extreme anti-choice allies have no business telling women what they can and can’t do with their bodies. He doesn’t stand for Nevada, and we will not let him drag us backwards,” Cortez Masto said in a Twitter post.

But the race, among four key Senate races nationwide that could determine which party holds the chamber majority beginning in

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