Nevada Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto lost endorsements from an alliance of police groups who backed her during her first run for office in 2016, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
The Public Safety Alliance of Nevada announced it will back Republican primary frontrunner Adam Laxalt in 2022 instead of Masto. The group, which includes the Nevada Fraternal Order of Police, the Las Vegas Peace Officers Association, and Peace Officers Association of the Clark County School District, represents more than 10,000 law enforcement officers in the state. In a statement, the alliance's director John Abel said Laxalt as the state's attorney general "stood by cops when it mattered, and we are proud to stand by him now."
The revoked endorsement may stem from comments Masto made in November during a speech at a progressive fundraiser. The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Nevada senator praised a liberal nonprofit that has called for "defunding" police, saying its leaders were "incredible advocates" in the state. The decision underscores the degree to which the Democratic Party is no longer seen as a friend to law enforcement as anti-police rhetoric has become common on the left.
"Cortez Masto has been focused on pushing the agenda of anti-police radicals in her party that undermines cops at every turn," Laxalt told Fox News Digital. "Support from the brave men and women of Nevada's law enforcement is humbling."