Adam Laxalt, a Nevada Republican in a closely watched Senate race, says he’ll fight high inflation by aiming to tighten the federal government’s purse strings, and the former state attorney general talks up maintaining tax cuts for companies and individuals enacted in the GOP’s 2017 tax overhaul. Laxalt’s remarks come in response to a MarketWatch questionnaire that also has been sent to his opponent, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, along with other candidates in competitive Senate races.
Candidates’ written responses will be published as they’re received. Cortez Masto has not provided answers so far. Related: J.D. Vance says he wants to end tax loopholes for tech companies And see: Here’s how outside spending is boosting candidates in competitive Senate races As he criticizes Democratic-run Washington’s spending, Laxalt is joining with many Republicans who have seized on raging inflation in their campaigns and attacked outlays such as March 2021’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. From the archives (May 2021): Why some Republicans have become fans of Biden pandemic relief they voted against Laxalt — whose grandfather and father were U.S. senators — also blasts President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive a big tranche of student loans, saying the “Biden/Masto $300 billion student debt bailout will line the pockets of the wealthiest Americans and fuel the flames of inflation.” Cortez Masto has said she doesn’t agree with the president’s debt-forgiveness plan “because it doesn’t address the root problems that make college unaffordable.” Cortez Masto in recent days has sharpened her criticism of her Republican challenger for denying the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Laxalt said last year that the election was “rigged,” and he co-chaired former Donald Trump’s re-election campaign in Nevada, which filed unsuccessful lawsuits over Trump’s loss to Biden, as a Reno Gazette-Journal article reports. The Laxalt campaign told the Reno newspaper last week that the candidate now accepts Biden is president. Laxalt has had a slight lead in recent polls, with a RealClearPolitics average putting his edge at less than 1 percentage point. Below are MarketWatch’s five questions and Laxalt’s replies, edited for clarity and length. MarketWatch: How do you propose to address high U.S. inflation? Laxalt: To end inflation …