Adam Laxalt, the Republican running for governor in Nevada, was targeted by 12 of his family members in a brutal op-ed detailing the personal and professional reasons they say he is unfit for office.
Published in the Reno Gazette Journal on Monday, the op-ed opens with and focuses on the idea that Laxalt spent the bulk of his life in Washington, D.C., only returning to Nevada to start his political career.
The Laxalt campaign did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
“Aside from the occasional short visit, Adam never knew the state or its people,” the op-ed reads. “Perhaps if he had, he would stand for Nevada’s values rather than for those of his out-of-state donors.”
After slamming Laxalt for his inauthenticity, his family members moved on to his credentials, saying that his coworkers called his law career a “train wreck” and that he spent his time in the attorney general’s office outsourcing jobs and promoting himself.
Specifically, they targeted Laxalt’s stance on public lands, education funding and healthcare as disqualifying factors.
“We would be proud to have a Laxalt running for office on Nov. 6, regardless of whether they were Republican or Democrat or independent, so long as we believed that they would be good for Nevada,” they concluded. “We’re writing because we care about Nevada and because we know the truth about this candidate. We think that you should too.”
Laxalt is no stranger to familial drama, having been fathered by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) with the much-younger daughter of his peer, Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-NV), in an extramarital affair. Laxalt’s mother, Michelle, did not reveal his parentage until 2013, which made huge waves in Nevada and sent him on his way to political stardom.
This is not the first time family members have turned on a candidate this midterm season. The six siblings of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) put out a brutal campaign ad in September during which they list the reasons they say Gosar should not be elected before revealing that they are all related to him.
