With Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto as Nevada's attorney general,
thousands of rape kits sat untested. When Adam Laxalt took over the role,
the Republican Senate hopeful secured millions of dollars to clear the
backlog, leading to more than a dozen arrests.

In October 2014�the tail end of Cortez Masto's eight-year term as Nevada's
top cop� a national nonprofit found that just 16 percent of the 5,231 rape
kits collected in Las Vegas from 2004 to 2013 were examined, leaving
nearly 4,400 untested. Statewide, the number of untested kits reached
7,500, prompting Laxalt to pledge during his 2018 campaign to "clear up
the backlog." Within months of taking the attorney general's office in
2015, Laxalt secured $3.7 million to do just that, and by November 2018,
nearly 7,400 untested kits had been sent to labs for testing.

In some cases, the testing of those kits led to high-profile arrests. In
November 2020, for example, police arrested a 49-year-old Las Vegas man
for a sexual assault that a woman reported in 2012, Cortez Masto's fifth
year as attorney general. The kit stemming from the assault, however, went
untested until 2018, when Laxalt held the office. The kit's eventual
examination revealed a DNA match with the alleged assailant, who had prior
arrests for battery and domestic violence. Another backlogged rape kit
tested in 2016 linked a suspect to a 1997 rape and murder.

Now, Laxalt and Cortez Masto are squaring off for a coveted Senate seat
that could determine control of the upper chamber come 2023. Cortez Masto
has leaned on her tenure as attorney general in that race�her campaign
site says the Democrat "kept our communities safe" and "made it her
mission to stand up for vulnerable women and girls." Cortez Masto's
inaction on Nevada's substantial rape kit backlog, however, could give
Laxalt an opening as the political opponents directly compare their
records at the helm of the same office.

"By doing nothing about the thousands of untested sexual assault kits,
Masto neglected victims and allowed violent criminals and killers to prey
on more people," Laxalt told the Washington Free Beacon. "Fixing this
egregious failure was one of my top priorities as AG, and we moved heaven
and earth to process those kits quickly and get justice for the victims. I
cleaned up her mess before, and I�m ready to do it again in the U.S.
Senate."

Cortez Masto, whose campaign did not return a request for comment, faced
criticism over the kit backlog during her first Senate run in 2016. At the
time, a Senate Leadership Fund ad noted that during Cortez Masto's time as
attorney general, "thousands of rape kits were never sent for DNA
analysis." Even Cortez Masto's media allies confirmed the charge�a 2016
PolitiFact article said it's "hard to find any evidence that [Cortez
Masto] took on the specific problem of the state's rape kit backlog while
in office from 2006 to 2014," whereas Laxalt "was able to secure roughly
$3.7 million in grants and redirected settlement funds to pay for funding
the backlog about a year after taking office."

Beyond her passiveness on Nevada's rape kit backlog, Cortez Masto accepted
an array of lavish gifts as attorney general, including a $750 luxury
handbag and complimentary tickets to award shows and sporting events.
Laxalt, meanwhile, declined to take political gifts as Nevada's top law
enforcement officer, saying, "If I want to go to a boxing event, I'll
either pay for it myself or not go." Cortez Masto's net worth has also
skyrocketed since she was sworn in as senator in 2017�while USA Today
called Cortez Masto's finances "relatively modest" during her 2016
campaign, she is now worth as much as $7.5 million, according to her most
recent federal financial disclosure. Still, Cortez Masto says she ran for
office to "serve and give back."

Cortez Masto and Laxalt are set to square off in November after both
candidates advanced from their June primaries. Cortez Masto, who is often
identified as the "most vulnerable U.S. senator in America" in her joint
fundraising pleas, trails Laxalt by 1 point, according to a Thursday poll
from liberal think tank Data for Progress.

https://freebeacon.com/elections/as-ag-cortez-masto-left-thousands-of-
rape-kits-untested-laxalt-helped-clear-the-backlog-and-arrests-followed/