In Case You Missed It, new reporting from Forbes highlights how corrupt politician Adam Laxalt is relying on two far-right billionaires to fund his campaign for the U.S. Senate, including Richard Uihlein, who spent millions to fund groups involved in the lead-up to the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. 

Laxalt recently hired an insurrectionist to run his campaign and has been called the “face of” the Big Lie in Nevada. He has defended the January 6 insurrectionists, arguing the attack on law enforcement was exaggerated and that most of those involved should not face consequences.

Forbes: These Two Billionaires Are Helping Bankroll An Election Denier In Nevada’s Senate Race

Kyle Mullins // 8.04.22

Key Points: 

• With the 2022 midterms fast approaching, control of the U.S. Senate may come down to the race in Nevada. Incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto is squaring off against Adam Laxalt, who chaired Donald Trump’s statewide campaign in 2020 and worked to overturn the results after the former president lost. Also in Laxalt’s corner: two of the richest men in the country, Pennsylvania investor Jeff Yass and Richard Uihlein, the founder of the Uline packaging products empire.
• Both are big donors nationally. An outspoken advocate for school choice, Yass seeded a super PAC called School Freedom Fund with $15 million. That group in turn has spent more than $600,000 supporting Laxalt. Uihlein funneled $2.2 million to a different super PAC called Americas PAC, which has shelled out $845,000 to attack Cortez Masto. Both are also major contributors to Club for Growth Action, a group allied with School Freedom Fund that supports Republican candidates nationwide and has dropped over $1 million backing Laxalt.
• Laxalt comes with some baggage. After serving as the state attorney general, he ran for governor in 2018 but lost by four points. He then took a statewide role helping Trump in Nevada. The former president lost the state by two points, but Laxalt denied the results and supported lawsuits seeking to reverse Joe Biden’s victory. The communications director of his Senate campaign reportedly attended the Jan. 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” protest in Washington, D.C.
• Uihlein and Yass aren’t likely to be deterred by that, though. Both Americas PAC and the School Freedom Fund, which are funded almost exclusively by the two billionaires, have supported candidates who rejected the election results. 

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