Senate Democrats target Laxalt on abortion rights stance in new ad

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm on Tuesday released its first general election television ad targeting Adam Laxalt in Nevada, slamming the Republican Senate nominee for his abortion stance.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) said the ad, titled “Historic,” is part of its $8.4 million ad reservation in Nevada this fall.

“Adam Laxalt praised the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade,” the ad begins, also noting that Laxalt called Roe v. Wade a “joke” in June and described the Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion rights later that month as “a historic victory.”

Abortion is protected in Nevada through 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions after that point for cases where the mother’s health or life is in danger. The law cannot be repealed without a ballot measure being posed directly to voters.

“Laxalt supported overturning Nevada’s abortion protections,” the ad, which was first reported by Politico Playbook, continues. “He’d let states outlaw it, even for victims of rape and incest. Adam Laxalt’s not for us.”

Laxalt’s challenge to incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched races of this year’s Senate elections, with Republicans hoping to flip the seat.

Nonpartisan election analysts like the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the race as a toss up. 

Polls have mostly given Cortez Masto a slight lead, and FiveThirtyEight indicates she has a 62 percent chance of retaining her seat.

Laxalt spokesperson Courtney Holland called the ad “dishonest” and said it ends with a “wildly inaccurate claim,” adding that Laxalt opposes a federal ban on abortion and believes the current state abortion protections are “settled” with more than 63 percent of Nevadans voting for them.

The ad is part of the DSCC’s $33 million in total ad reservations this fall nationwide. 

Democrats had faced a dismal political environment heading into November, largely due to inflation recently hitting a 40-year high. But the party is hoping the abortion ruling, a recent string of legislative victories and controversies around former President Trump can avoid a shellacking for Democratic candidates this fall.

Republicans remain favorites to take control of the House, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other Republicans have tempered expectations for the party’s fate in Senate contests.

McConnell has made references to “candidate quality” as reason for the disparity, seen as a veiled reference to GOP Senate nominees who are backed by Trump and have struggled to pull ahead of their Democratic opponents in polls.

Laxalt, a Trump-backed candidate who served as the co-chairman of the former president’s reelection campaign in Nevada, has echoed his unfounded claims of mass election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Updated 12:04 p.m.