It may seem odd that the most expensive and watched race of this election is for attorney general, but a quick look at the last names of the two candidates clears up why that is.
On the Democratic ticket is second-term Secretary of State Ross Miller—the son of former Nevada Governor Bob Miller. He’s facing off against Republican Adam Laxalt, the grandson of former Senator and Governor Paul Laxalt.
A lot of blood has been spilled as these political dynasties have clashed. Now, some polls have the race within only a few points—that’s a big surprise given how it looked at the outset.
Miller began with more than a 15-point lead. Then, notes surfaced from a 2011 performance evaluation of Laxalt, and it seemed the young attorney was dead in the water.
“In a performance review, Laxalt’s firm called him a 'train wreck,' his work 'sloppy.' They concluded he doesn’t even have the basic skill set to be a lawyer.”
Laxalt’s campaign says it’s disturbed these private documents were leaked and calls them mischaracterizations. A Laxalt ad even suggested Miller was behind the leak. There’s no evidence of that, but Laxalt has tried to redirect this negative attention.
Here’s Laxalt during a recent debate on Vegas PBS.
“I’m very disappointed that my opponent would actually fund this kind of attack ad. To your point, he is going to be the top lawyer for the state and every lawyer knows you can’t use a stolen document. Confidentiality is the most important thing for a lawyer. That’s part of our code of ethics.”
The law firm where Laxalt worked, Lewis Rocha Rothberger, also issued a statement saying Laxalt was a valued attorney and welcome to return.
Still, the incident plays perfectly into Miller’s narrative that Laxalt, who has only practiced law for three years in Nevada, is unprepared for attorney general.
“He has not even practiced law long enough in this state to legally run for judge--can’t even put his name on the ballot. He’s running to be the state’s top attorney. What is going on here? Adam Laxalt has a secret: That, at the end of the day, when you look at his records, his qualifications, all of these documents that he refuses to put out from his performance reviews, the people that know him best say he’s incompetent.”
Most of Laxalt’s legal experience comes from being a lawyer in the Navy during his 20s.
Given these hiccups and Miller’s advantage, Laxalt’s turnaround is probably the most interesting storyline of an otherwise quiet midterm election here in Nevada.
“There are multiple factors. One is that there’s a lot of outside money coming in and that outside money is, perhaps, not so much for Adam Laxalt, but it’s against Ross Miller. And so Miller has had to face that kind of attack.”
That’s Erik Herzik, who’s the chair of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Sure enough, a group, known as the Republican Attorneys General Association, has spent more than a million dollars on TV ads. Almost all of those target Miller, rather than explicitly support Laxalt, according to the Center for Public Integrity.
As for Laxalt’s dubious performance evaluation, Herzik thinks that most voters either don’t care or don’t notice.
“I thought that would hurt Laxalt significantly more than it did. I still think it’s a negative for Laxalt. So, both sides are just lobbing attacks at each other and, in a sense, hoping something sticks in the minds of voters.”
Offense has been a key ingredient in Laxalt’s comeback.
“Ross Miller took $70,000 in special interest gifts, designed to curry favor, raising questions about his judgment. A watchdog even found Nevada was vulnerable to corruption under Miller.”
Laxalt is casting Miller as a career politician with questionable ethics. But Miller, who touts his transparency, says taking gifts is not unusual; the difference is that he has actually disclosed more than most politicians.
“I put that out there for the public to see, so that they can make their own judgment. There’s nothing on there that poses any conflict of interest, whatsoever. That’s why I disclosed it.”
An ethics complaint against Miller has been the other prong of attack. It alleges Miller tried to influence the electorate by putting his own photo on a voting portal for military overseas. Laxalt, with his military background, is capitalizing on this.
“Explain to me how he is able to put his name and face in the ballot, taking advantage of our overseas military voters. Right there--free advertisement. And what’s really concerning is that he gets to decide whether he broke the law or not."
The secretary of state dismisses the complaint as a political stunt and has criticized Laxalt f0r not making all of his military records public.
“When you say you were prosecuting terrorists in Iraq, is that true? Doesn’t seem to be. Seems like you were processing paperwork. You don’t have the level of experience you say you do.”
Laxalt responded: “Processing paperwork...Ross, do you have any idea what it’s like to go into a war zone in the middle of the surge? In the middle of the most challenging time we faced in Iraq? It’s just appalling.”
With big Republican turnout so far and little to galvanize Democrats, this election environment favors Laxalt. But Miller is already a prominent figure in his party and was one of the few who could have conceivably run against Sandoval this year. Instead, he opted for attorney general.
Still, both candidates have more at stake than just their family names. After all, Sandoval was once attorney general.
