Adam Laxalt Admits Challenging Election Loss Wouldn't Work

Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt has conceded to Democratic Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, admitting that despite his calls for election reform his loss would be reaffirmed by a challenge to the voting results.

"Moving forward, we need to better adjust to our new election laws or we need to work to fix them. But I am confident that any challenge of this election would not alter the ultimate outcome," Laxalt said Tuesday in a statement. "That is why this morning I called Catherine Cortez Masto to congratulate her on her win."

The race between Laxalt, a Donald Trump loyalist endorsed by the former president, and Cortez Masto was one of the closest contests in the midterm elections, as well as the Democrats' most vulnerable seat.

Although Republicans were projected to flip the seat, the election was ultimately called for Cortez Masto over the weekend, following the counting of mail-in ballots from the state's most populous county, Clark County.

Laxalt handily won Nevada's 15 rural counties, sometimes with 80 percent of the vote, but Cortez Masto was able to steadily lead in Clark County—a reliably blue area that is home to the state's most populous city, Las Vegas. Her victory gave the Democrats control of the Senate.

Throughout her campaign, Cortez Masto highlighted Laxalt's record of election denialism, pointing to his comments that questioned the results of the 2020 presidential race and called the outcome "rigged."

At an appearance in Reno during the final stretch of the campaign, the Democrat warned that "there should be consequences for people who undermine our democracy, who peddle the 'big lie' and conspiracy theories."

In her victory speech, the senator said her reelection signaled that Nevada "rejected their conspiracies, their attacks on our workers and their efforts to restrict our freedoms."

Laxalt's concession Tuesday suggests a pivot for the GOP as Republicans appear to be shifting away from election denialism in the wake of their party's lackluster results in the midterms. Several GOP candidates who had cast doubt on the results of the 2020 election have now formally conceded their races to their Democratic opponents in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

"I entered this arena for my family and those all over Nevada and America who believe our country is headed in the wrong direction," Laxalt said. "This race and the 2022 election cycle didn't go as we hoped, but I am proud of the race we ran."

He continued, "Despite the staggering $120 million spent against us, we ended within half a percentage point of our opponent in the closest Senate race in America. Our team left everything on the field and should be proud."

Laxalt's concession remarks also represented a break with Trump, who accused Democrats of "finding all sorts of votes in Nevada and Arizona" last week.