Senate candidates tout law enforcement bone fides in final weeks of race

Nevada Democratic U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was leaving her office in Washington when she encountered a Capitol Police officer washing pepper spray out of his eyes in a nearby sink.

People protesting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory over then-president Donald Trump tore down metal barricades outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and were met by outnumbered officers in riot gear as they entered the Senate halls.

Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, were killed in the violence after a rally led by Trump, who was later impeached for inciting an insurrection.

For Cortez Masto, the memory of that officer washing his eyes out and immediately returning to confront the ongoing insurrection remains top-of-mind, even more than a year and a half afterward.

“I have always stood for our police. That’s why on Jan. 6, it was such a dark day for all of us,” Cortez Masto said. “The insurrectionists, they attacked our police officers, they attacked our Capitol, and it made me sick. Not just sick, it made me angry.”

The senator’s remarks Thursday were of the fiercest criticism of her midterm election opponent, Republican Adam Laxalt, and his role as co-chair for the former president’s reelection campaign in Nevada.

It was Laxalt who filed multiple lawsuits for the campaign in Nevada over the election results, with false claims of voter fraud. All of the suits were dismissed and no irregularities were found.

The Trump campaign also filed lawsuits in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania seeking to stop the vote counts in those states. Biden topped Trump in Nevada by about 30,000 votes.

But election deniers like Laxalt helped fuel the extremist supporters to take action Jan. 6, said Cortez Masto, who spoke at a local Teamsters Union hall in downtown Las Vegas with a backdrop of seven officers in the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers.

The union, which claims it is the “largest affiliation of AFL-CIO law enforcement Associations” in the state, has endorsed Cortez Masto, as have the Nevada Police Union and the Nevada Law Enforcement Coalition.

Laxalt, the former Nevada attorney general, paints himself as Nevada’s top pro-law enforcement candidate. He’s been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, the Reno Police Protective Association and others.

Cortez Masto isn’t buying that claim, especially considering Laxalt’s role in enabling Trump’s efforts to stop democracy.

“Adam Laxalt led the efforts to spread the big lie here in Nevada,” said Cortez Masto, who alleged that her opponent brought Trump to Northern Nevada on Saturday “so that both of them can continue to spread the lies that led to the violent attack on the Capitol and our officers.

“It is unforgivable and Nevadans will not forget his role.”

Trump campaigned Saturday in Minden for Laxalt and other conservatives on the ballot Nov. 8 in what polling suggests will be competitive races.

In a poll of likely voters published Thursday by CNN, Laxalt held a 2-percentage point edge over Cortez Masto, 48% to her 46%.

Democrats are worried about losing control of Congress as the nation grips with record inflation and high gas prices.

Respondents stated the economy as their top issue, with 44% saying it was top-ofmind.

Brian Freimuth, the campaign secretary for Laxalt, said in a statement that Cortez Masto is out of touch with Nevadans.

“She’s desperate, and this is part of her last-ditch effort to salvage her campaign,” he said of her appearance with the union.

DACA in limbo

Cortez Masto criticized a ruling made by a federal appeals court last week that ordered a lower court to review revisions made by the Biden administration for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA.

The administration’s move to extend DACA prevented the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, according to the Associated Press. Biden said in a statement he was “disappointed” by the ruling, which for the time being keeps the program alive but prevents new applications. The rule preserves DACA for several more months, but with a conservative Supreme Court, its long-term future is in doubt.

Hundreds of thousands of young immigrants work and study in the United States using the protection.

“It’s a direct result of Mitch Mcconnell stacking the courts, there’s no doubt in my mind,” said Cortez Masto, referring to the Republican senator from Kentucky who was majority leader during the Trump administration and helped the upper chamber confirm a stream of conservative judges at the federal level.

Cortez Masto said she’s urging colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and other migrants, while also improving security at the southern border.

“I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. You can have strong borders, and you can still fix a broken immigration system and treat people with dignity and respect.”

New Interior guidelines

The U.S. Department of Interior last week announced several new policies aimed at advancing “safe, transparent, accountable and effective policing,” among federal law enforcement agencies.

Among them, officers will be required to wear body-worn cameras, as well as further guidance restricting use of “no-knock” warrants and use-of-force standards, according to a release by the agency.

Officers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service all report to the Interior Department and Secretary Deb Haaland.

That means rangers working at Red Rock National Conservation Area and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and other federal agents working in Nevada, will have to adhere to these guidelines.

Sample ballots on the way

Sample ballots for the Nov. 8 general election are being sent to voters and should arrive by this week, Clark County officials said.

The sample ballots will contain polling places for early voting — Oct. 22 through Nov. 4 — and on Election Day.

The sample ballots will be sent to about 1.3 million registered voters within the county, spokesman Dan Kulin said in an email.

Mail ballots are expected to start arriving in Clark County by Oct. 19, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Visit nvsos.gov for more information.