Nevada’s Senate race narrowed again after Friday’s batch of reported ballots, shrinking GOP nominee Adam Laxalt’s lead to less than a thousand votes with thousands of votes still to be counted.
The stakes of the Nevada race could determine whether Republicans win back control of the Senate, since Democrats need to win one more seat to maintain their narrow 50-50 majority. With Democratic Sen. Mike Kelly winning re-election in Arizona, only two seats are left in play — Georgia and Nevada.
The GOP needs to flip both Democrat-held seats in order to get a narrow 51-senator majority in the Senate. Georgia’s is heading to a Dec. 6 runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican nominee Herschel Walker. Warnock received less than the required 50% of the vote in the Nov. 8 election, winning 49.42% of the vote to Walker’s 48.52%. Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver won 2% of the vote.
While there’s no automatic recount law in Nevada, the losing candidate could demand a recount after all the votes are tallied.
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO INCHES CLOSER TO OVERTAKING ADAM LAXALT
Nevada Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt speaks during a panel on policing and security prior to former President Donald Trump giving remarks at Treasure Island hotel and casino on July 8, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Bridget Bennett/Getty Images)
Laxalt, a former Nevada attorney general, admitted his lead of over 800 votes has “narrowed his victory window” in a tweet Saturday morning.
“Multiple days in a row, the mostly mail in ballots counted continue to break in higher DEM margins than we calculated. This has narrowed our victory window,” he said,
But it’s unclear what precincts are still sending in ballots. Laxalt said the race will come down to ballots dropped off on Election Day in Clark County.
“If they are GOP precincts or slightly DEM leaning then we can still win. If they continue to trend heavy DEM then she will overtake us. Thanks for all the prayers from millions of Nevadans and Americans who hope we can still take back the Senate and start taking our country back,” Laxalt added.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Cortez Masto’s campaign to ask if the senator would request a recount in the event of a narrow loss, but did not receive a response.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto speaks at a election night party hosted by Nevada Democratic Victory at The Encore on Nov. 8, 2022, in Las Vegas.
(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Laxalt earlier in the week dismissed anonymous reports that his campaign was preparing to request a recount if it lost, saying Friday that his team believed his lead would hold.
“We are waiting on results tonight and expect her percentages to continue to remain under what she needs. We still remain confident,” Laxalt tweeted Friday.
Laxalt’s campaign did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
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Under Nevada’s election schedule, the losing candidate would have to request a recount three days following the official canvass. This year, the last date a recount could be demanded is Nov. 25. State law requires the recount to begin within five days to begin the demand, and election officials have five additional days to complete it.
