Nevada U.S. Senate Debate Nixed, Local Journalist Accuses Cortez Masto of Dodging Questions

Adam-Laxalt-Catherine-Cortez-Masto-AP
AP Photo/John Locher
Katherine Hamilton

A Nevada U.S. Senate debate between Trump-endorsed Adam Laxalt and vulnerable incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) has been “officially scrapped,” the Reno Gazette Journal (RGJ) reported Monday.

The Laxalt campaign reportedly did not reply to an invitation to participate in a debate put on by the RGJ, KOLO-TV, and the League of Women Voters at the University of Nevada in Reno, though Cortez Masto agreed to attend. Laxalt’s campaign noted in a statement to RGJ that he has agreed to “statewide debate offers with two respected, neutral Nevada media outlets,” contrary to Cortez Masto’s claims that he is “ducking debates.”

“We hope that Catherine Cortez Masto will stop hiding and agree to at least one of them. Voters deserve to hear Cortez Masto’s defense of the disastrous Biden agenda that she has become a rubber stamp for in the US Senate,” the Laxalt campaign continued.

Cortez Masto’s campaign sent a statement to RGJ claiming that Laxalt “cannot defend his record of cashing in with a longtime DC lobbyist, trying to overturn the 2020 election, and attacking a woman’s right to choose.”

The news comes a few weeks after CEO of the Nevada Independent Jon Ralston accused Cortez Masto of dodging simple questions.

“As we ramp our election coverage, trying to bring you NV’s deepest stories, I wanted to let you know about a candidate — a longtime elected official! — who is refusing to let @TheNVIndy reporters ask her about her record. I am talking about Democratic Sen. Cortez Masto,” Ralston tweeted on Sept. 2.

“I am not at all surprised that her opponent, Adam Laxalt, will only submit to interviews from softballers. We know why that is. But for the senator to say she won’t answer questions from us unless Laxalt does is a transparent ploy to insulate her from potential missteps,” he continued. 

“We will continue to try to get answers from her and others. I am saddened by folks who want to serve or are serving who aren’t willing to answer basic questions. And it is getting worse as they find ways to evade the media and deliver their spin. We are not deterred,” he finished.

Cortez Masto campaign spokesman Josh Marcus-Blank replied to Ralston, saying Cortez Masto has agreed to three debates and speaks with the publication “every week and answer questions form the NV media at every event – in Las Vegas, Reno and recently in rural Nevada.”

“As with debates, she’d agree to this hourlong filming if her opponent does as well,” Marcus-Blank added. 

Ralston called Marcus-Blanks a “disingenuous flack” who “gives up the game.”

“This is not an “hourlong filming,” but a sitdown to answer ?s from reporters that yes, would be taped and posted. It’s clear her campaign is worried snippets might be used by Laxalt. Oh boo hoo,” Ralston said. “This is a damn U.S. senator!”

It should be noted that Laxalt has done more than a dozen sit-down television interviews this year. Cortez Masto seems to have only participated in one CNN interview on May 11 about abortion.

Disclosure: Breitbart News is represented by Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. Adam Laxalt is a partner at Cooper & Kirk. He is not actively engaged or working on any matters for Breitbart News.

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