Even Adam Laxalt’s Relatives Oppose His Candidacy for Nevada Governor

Even Adam Laxalt's Relatives Oppose His Candidacy for Nevada Governor

The US mid-term elections are scheduled to take place on Nov. 6, during which time voters will cast their votes to determine who will win seats in both the US House of Representatives and Senate, as well as governorship positions in 36 individual states.

One of the candidates hoping to become the next Governor of Nevada is Adam Laxalt, a Republican politicians and Nevada Attorney General, who is currently locked in a tight race against Democrat Steve Sisolak, the Clark County Commission Chairman. While Laxalt has been campaigning hard to convince voters that he is the right person for the job, the 40-year old Republican nominee received a major blow to his canvassing efforts on Monday after a dozen of his relatives penned an op-end in the Reno Gazette Journal warning readers that he is the wrong choice for the job, and urging them to vote against him.

Laxalt Labeled Inauthentic By Family

In their published article, twelve Laxalt family members laid out why voters should oppose Adam Laxalt for Nevada Governor, citing everything from his anti-immigrant and anti-choice agenda, his stance on healthcare and education funding, to accusing him of serving the interests of out-of-state donors over that of real Nevadans. In an extract of their op-end piece, Laxalt family members also dismissed claims that he was actually raised in Nevada or has any true connection to the state, explaining:

“The simple fact is that while he may have been born in Reno, he left as an infant and was raised on the East Coast, 3,000 miles away, in Washington, D.C., and moved here only in 2013, only one year later launching his political career. Aside from the occasional short visit, Adam never knew the state or its people. Perhaps if he had, he would stand for Nevada’s values rather than for those of his out-of-state donors.”

Laxalt was further called out over a recent cynical stunt in which he appeared at a campaign fundraiser next to farm equipment and bales of hay, apparently in an attempt to present himself as a homespun Nevadan. Instead, the family dismissed the phoney props and “pretense of folksiness” as nothing more than a misleading and inauthentic political move designed to muster votes on behalf of his Washington masters.

Capitalizing on Family Name

Continuing their assault on the Nevada Governor candidate, the Laxalt clan also accused Adam Laxalt of trying to capitalize upon the family name in order to further his political career. His grandfather, for example, was a former Governor of Nevada (1967-1971), and US Senator (1974-1987), who was known to be a close friend of President Reagan. According to their post, Adam Laxalt only returned to Nevada in recent times because he thought it would be easier to build his political career there, and as their article subsequently concluded:

“We’re writing because we care about Nevada and because we know the truth about this candidate. We think that you should, too.”

Laxalt Wants Online Poker Banned

In the meantime, the gambling industry has its own reasons to see the Republican politician fail as a candidate. Despite Nevada being the first US state to legalize and regulate online poker in 2013, Laxalt stands vehemently opposed to the industry, and in 2016 was one of several state Attorneys General to co-sign a letter in support of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). Last year, he then continued his lobbying efforts by sending a letter to President Donald Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence asking the federal government to reverse its 2011 position on the Wire Act, and make online gambling across the US illegal once more.

At the time, the Governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval confirmed that Laxalt had acted without consulting either himself or the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and lambasted the Attorney General for speaking out against state law supporting the state’s leading industry.

Adelson Connection

Helping to explain Laxalt’s anti-online gambling stance is his connection to Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, who has long seen online gambling as a threat to his land-based casinos. The billionaire entrepreneur has been funding anti-online gambling efforts for several years now, including the aforementioned proposed federal bill called RAWA, and a lobbying organization called the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG).

Laxalt has been a chief recipient of Adelson’s funding during this time, and in his 2014 campaign to become Attorney General apparently received $210,222 from gambling interests, including $40,000 from Adelson himself, and a further $5,000 from Adelson’s daughter.