Trump-backed Nevada GOP Senate candidate concedes loss

LAS VEGAS — The Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada conceded on Tuesday that he lost, issuing statements saying that he won’t contest the result but calling mail-in balloting a “tactic” that tilted the balance. “I am confident that any challenge of this election would not alter the ultimate outcome,” GOP candidate Adam Laxalt said in a tweet that campaign adviser Robert Uithoven confirmed was authentic. In his Twitter statement and a separate email sent Tuesday to supporters, he complained that “Republican turnout on Election Day was significantly lower than expected as we needed to overcome nearly three weeks of Democrat-favored mail-in voting.” “Nevada’s new elections laws enacted two years ago allowed for massive ballot harvesting and votes dropped off at drop boxes and polling places on Election Day,” Laxalt said in the email. “Republicans will either have to fix our election laws or better adjust to them and to the tactics used against us.” He said mail-in voting “is not a form of voting Republican voters prefer, so as those ballots were tabulated, they skewed heavily towards Democrats up and down the ballot, including our opponent.” Uithoven characterized the tweet as a brief public statement and said the email “provided a little more detail” to Laxalt’s supporters.