DSCC Statement On NYT Reporting Adam Laxalt’s Plan To Overturn 2022 Election

In response to a new report from the New York Times detailing audio recordings of Adam Laxalt’s plan to overturn the results of the 2022 elections before even a single vote is cast, DSCC spokesperson Patrick Burgwinkle released the following statement:

“Laxalt was the leader of Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election in Nevada – and now he’s continuing to practice Trump’s dangerous brand of politics by plotting to overturn the 2022 election before a single Nevadan casts a vote. Laxalt has shown he’s a corrupt, power hungry politician who only cares about appeasing Trump and furthering his own political agenda, and that’s why he should have no place in the United States Senate.”

Previously, the Associated Press reported that Laxalt was preparing a legal strategy based on the Big Lie nearly 14 months before Election Day. NBC News reported that Laxalt has been telling rural Nevadans that their votes count but that votes in Clark and Washoe counties are fraudulent

See below for excerpts from the New York Times’ reporting:

• In conversations with voters at an event at his campaign headquarters this month, Laxalt explained how he’s vetting outside groups to help him establish election observer teams and map out a litigation strategy.

• “I don’t talk about that, but we’re vetting which group we think is going to do better,” Laxalt told an attendee, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times from a person who attended the event and opposes Laxalt’s candidacy.

• At the event, Laxalt criticized the 2020 Trump campaign and outside groups for their handling of election-fraud claims, saying that they went on the offensive too late. “In 2020, it was nothing,” he said, according to the audio recording. “And then the campaign was late and the party was late. So, it’s just different now. There’s a lot of groups that are saying there’s election fraud.”

• And should he be unable to find help, Laxalt pledged that his campaign would shoulder the cost of bringing in lawyers and mapping out a strategy, even at the expense of other core programs necessary to run a campaign.

• “If I get into July and I’m like, ‘Dear God, no one’s going to do this right,’ we will pay from our campaign, which means less voter contact for the reason you said,” Laxalt told an attendee. “If someone’s not going to do it, we’ve got to do it. And I’m willing to lose on the other side because we’re going to take it off.”

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