NV SENATE: Adam Laxalt (R)
Laxalt graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University and graduated from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a former Naval Officer and Iraq Veteran, serving in Iraq detainee operations. Laxalt’s team was in charge of more than 20,000 detainees during the surge, keeping America’s troops and citizens safer by assisting with the detention and prosecution of thousands of war criminals and terrorists.
For his exemplary service, Laxalt was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal. His unit was also awarded the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. While on Active Duty, Laxalt served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and as an Assistant Professor of Law in the Leadership, Ethics and Law Department at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Laxalt, a fourth generation Nevadan born in Reno, served as Nevada’s 33rd Attorney General from 2015-2019, entering office as the youngest Attorney General in the country at the time. [Adam Laxalt’s rival in this race, incumbent U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, also held the position of Attorney General. You can read about her work in the role here.]
As Nevada’s Attorney General and top law enforcement officer, Laxalt took a bold, results-driven approach to serving the people of Nevada, protecting the state’s most vulnerable citizens, and keeping its communities safe.
One of Laxalt’s top priorities was pursuing justice for victims of sexual assault, which he did by taking on Nevada’s horrendous backlog of more than 8,000 untested sexual-assault evidence kits. He also fought for victims of human trafficking and secured the first human trafficking conviction in the history of his office. In addition, Laxalt led efforts to protect Nevada’s seniors, creating a financial fraud unit to address issues including abuse of the elderly and guardianship exploitation.
Laxalt launched the state’s first-ever Law Enforcement Summit, which he held twice a year, bringing officials from Nevada’s 17 counties together to determine how local law enforcement could more effectively address emerging criminal trends.
Laxalt also led in the effort to combat the opioid crisis that has affected so many people in Nevada. On behalf of victims, he sued big pharmaceutical companies over issues including deceptive marketing practices regarding the risks and benefits of prescription opioids as well as manipulation of drug prices.
In that same month, he launched “Nevada’s Prescription for Addiction,” an opioid initiative to combat the use, abuse and misuse of prescription drugs in Nevada, which received unanimous, bipartisan approval from the Nevada Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee. Also within that month, he announced the appointment of the state’s first-ever statewide opioid coordinator in the Office of the Attorney General.
While in office, Laxalt remained committed to his fellow veterans, creating the Office of Military Legal Assistance, a first-of-its-kind, public-private program that provides members of Nevada’s military community with free legal representation at no cost to taxpayers. The program was named a “Best Practice Program” by the U.S. Department of Defense, with a recommendation for duplication in states throughout the country and has helped Nevada’s service members and veterans handle thousands of matters, pro bono.
Additionally, Laxalt created the state’s first-ever Federalism Unit within the Attorney General’s Office to protect the interests of Nevadans by pushing back against the federal government in cases where it overstepped its bounds and encroached on citizens’ liberties.
Laxalt’s extensive record of accomplishment placed him among the most effective Attorneys General in state history and earned him broad recognition from national media outlets as well as widespread respect and praise from his former state Attorneys General.
Today, Laxalt resides in Reno, Nevada with his wife, Jaime, their daughters Sophia, Isabella and Lilliana, their son Jack, and their dog, Buckley.
The biographical information above was sourced from the campaign website; see links above for more information.
