At a television studio in Reno, Republican Senate hopefuls Sam Brown, right, and Adam Laxalt, second from right, prepare for a debate on May 9, 2022, taped for broadcast on "Nevada Newsmakers." The show is moderated by host Sam Shad, far left, and Victor Joecks, second from left, of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Scott Sonner/AP
Republican U.S. Senate candidates Sam Brown and Adam Laxalt squared off on Nevada Newsmakers on Monday, largely agreeing on most major issues.
But Brown charged that Laxalt knew non-citizens were voting in 2018 and 2020 but did nothing about it. He added Laxalt filed a challenge over this past election after the deadline.
In response, Laxalt said he wasn’t in charge of election security, that the Secretary of State’s office handles that issue. He also said he didn’t handle the legal challenges to the vote turnout. He said that was the Republican National Committee’s job and, “they got caught flat-footed.”
That drew a sharp response from Brown who said, “we’re not going to settle for people who blame everyone else.”
Brown said Laxalt is relying heavily on endorsements from politicians including former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, “because Nevadans can’t rely on him.”
“Nevada deserves better and you need to be better,” he told Laxalt.
Laxalt repeatedly responded to questions from moderator Sam Shad by calling out Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto as a radical left-wing politician who does nothing but support the Biden agenda.
Both agreed inflation is the number one issue for Nevadans right now and both blamed massive federal spending. But when Laxalt said the nation should never have locked down and must never go back to that, Shad pointed out that the lockdowns actually started when Trump was president.
Brown blamed “career politicians” who he said “grew up, became lawyers and went to D.C. and they’re out of touch.”
He said the Federal Reserve should raise the interest rate 2 percent or more to rein in inflation. Asked if that wouldn’t just cause a recession, he said it’s the right thing to do, “even if it causes temporary pain.”
Laxalt blamed the “Biden agenda of the green new deal” for much of the inflation problem. He said the nation should return to Trump’s efforts to move the U.S. toward energy independence, to reduce regulation and reduce the cost of doing business.
He said the country needs to become, “better stewards of our money.”
Brown said the U.S. could dramatically cut spending by eliminating federal programs that duplicate state programs and returning control over those issues to the states. He said zero-based budgeting would also cut costs.
Both men opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants. But Brown said changes are needed to expedite the process of legally becoming a citizen.
Both agreed that drought, especially in the south, is a crisis that must be dealt with. And both said the rules setting out how much Colorado River water Nevada gets must be changed because the situation is much different than when those rules were written. Laxalt said what Nevada gets, “does not match our needs.”
Finally, Laxalt and Brown agreed the huge and powerful tech companies like Twitter and Facebook should lose their protection from lawsuits over content posted on those sites. They said those sites have become so powerful they can effectively silence points of view they disagree with.
Shad closed the hour-long discussion by saying he may well invite both back for another round before the June 14 primary.
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