Last week, the Laxalt campaign — which has the support of both Trump and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell — launched “Latinos for Laxalt” in an effort to appeal to Hispanic voters. Cortez Masto’s allies have made sure to use Latin America’s criticism of Laxalt against Laxalt — what they’re saying is just smart, hard-hitting campaigns.
The Democratic Party in Nevada is also suffering from an unusual schism. In fact, the party has split in two between a group associated with former Senator Reid allies, and a smaller faction led by Senator Bernie Sanders’ allies, the progressive Vermont.
The state’s top Democrats — including Cortez Masto, Senator Jacky Rosen and Governor Steve Sisolak — all operate through a new entity called Nevada Democratic Victory, which coordinates field operations and other campaign spending statewide with the Democratic National Committee in Washington.
It’s not entirely clear what role the official Nevada State Democratic Party will play in the 2022 midterm elections. That group, which is led by Sanders ally Judith Whitmer, announced that it would only have a half at the start of the campaign season. million dollars on hand — money that, however, it said would be used to “mount a massive field campaign.” And while Cortez Masto’s allies insist things are running smoothly and any tensions between the two groups have been ironed out, several also admit to having little idea of what the state party is doing.
Cortez Masto’s campaign says it doesn’t take any community in the state for granted, simply continuing the senator’s longstanding efforts to connect with a key constituency that has been hit hard by the economic disruptions of recent years.
“As Senator Cortez Masto continues to build on her strong track record of fighting for the Latino community in Nevada, Adam Laxalt continues to show that he cannot be trusted,” said Josh Marcus-Blank, a spokesman for the Cortez Masto campaign, in a statement.
Vargas, the head of the NALEO Educational Fund, said mobilizing Latino voters, especially younger voters, will be a critical factor in November. His group has forecast turnout among Nevada Latinos to grow 5.8 percent by the midterms of 2022, but he declined to speculate on which party could benefit.
