Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt conceded to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in Nevada’s Senate race after it was called in favor of the Democrat incumbent.
“This race and the 2022 election cycle didn’t go as we'd hoped, but I am proud of the race we ran,” he wrote, adding that Republicans need to “better adjust to our new election laws or we need to work to fix them.” Following the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of states, including Nevada, allowed for more lax rules around mail-in ballots.
“I am confident that any challenge of this election would not alter the ultimate outcome,” Laxalt said. “That is why this morning I called Catherine Cortez Masto to congratulate her on her win.”
Nevada’s vote count took a number of days to complete, with officials blaming it on the mail-in voting system that was created by the state legislature in 2020. It requires counties to accept mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day if they arrive as many as four days later.
Laxalt also noted that the Democrat senator spent a significant amount of money to defeat him, and he still came within 1 percentage point of the win. Democrats reportedly spent about $82.6 million as compared with Republicans’ $70.5 million in the race.
Masto’s campaign did not immediately issue a public comment after Laxalt’s concession. The concession came a week after the Nov. 8 midterm elections were held.
Masto’s victory, along with Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) victory in Arizona, gives Democrats the majority in the Senate. The party will retain control of the chamber regardless of the outcome of the Georgia runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Republican candidate Herschel Walker scheduled for Dec. 6.
Meanwhile, the GOP is on the verge of a House majority after securing several seats on Monday evening. Currently, Republicans hold about 217 seats and need just one more to take the majority, which would give the party the ability to chair House panels and launch investigations.
The divided Congress next year will mean President Joe Biden has a far tougher time advancing his agenda, including expanding domestic social programs and raising taxes to provide more military funds to Ukraine.
Ballots from the midterms are still being counted in races across the country a week after the vote. Late on Monday, Democrat Katie Hobbs was projected as the winner of Arizona’s closely fought governor contest over Kari Lake. Lake has not yet conceded the race, which was marred by vote tabulation problems across numerous Maricopa County precincts on Election Day.
After the race was called, Lake wrote: “Arizonans know BS when they see it.”
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