LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Former Republican Nevada Attorney General and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt cited a need for “new leadership” as he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential race.
Laxalt, who served twice as Nevada chair for former President Donald Trump’s campaigns, said in part, “new times and new challenges call for new leadership.”
“To this day, I remain a staunch advocate of what his administration was able to achieve, and along with millions of others, I appreciate what he fought for,” Laxalt said about Trump in a statement.
Laxalt and DeSantis were roommates in the Navy in 2005.
“I believe that Ron DeSantis, with a proven record of protecting American values, will provide both the strength the country needs and the opportunity to finish what President Trump started,” Laxalt said. “His accomplishments in Florida alone have turned his state into a brilliant showcase for what he could do for our country.”
Laxalt chairs the Never Back Down PAC, which was airing television advertisements in the Las Vegas market encouraging DeSantis to enter the race.
DeSantis will face Trump, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, among others, in the 2024 primary.
In 2021, Nevada lawmakers voted to switch to a primary system over caucuses. The Nevada Republican Party was suing the state to continue the caucus practice in 2024.
Laxalt’s endorsement first appeared in a column in the Reno Gazette Journal.
