Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt joins race to flip the U.S. Senate for the GOP

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt is officially in the race to become the next U.S. senator from Nevada after launching his campaign early Tuesday morning. Laxalt is running against Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastro in an effort to help Republicans regain a majority in the upper chamber.

In a video announcing his campaign, Laxalt says, "The radical left, rich elites, woke corporations, academia and the media – they're taking over America."

In 2018, Laxalt ran for governor of Nevada, a position he lost to Democrat Steve Sisolak by about 4 percentage points. In comparison, Sen. Cortez Mastro won her election in 2016 by about 2 points.

Nevada is considered a swing-state, though Democrats have been on a winning streak there for the past several cycles. The state currently has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic majorities in both state legislative chambers. 

This past weekend, at the 6th annual Basque Fry, an event hosted by Laxalt, modeled after the cookouts hosted by his grandfather, U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, GOP Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas endorsed what was then a likely run by Laxalt.

"Adam, I guess he’s not supposed to say that he’s going to be your next United States Senator. There’s some campaign finance rules against it. But what do I care about some stupid rules like that? Adam Laxalt is going to the United States Senate for the Battle Born state in 2022," Cotton said.