Pushing an Immigration Conspiracy Theory, While Courting Latinos

Brian Hughes, the co-founder and associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University, said he was not surprised to see the far right cheering Mr. Masters on.

“If a candidate is pointing toward the ideas that make up replacement theory, he or she doesn’t have to spell it out in the ugliest terms; the message gets across,” Mr. Hughes said. “Because of the broader political context that is taking place here — which includes mass murder — the dog whistles are much more effective. You’re playing with fire when you play footsie with these ideas.”

Mr. Masters isn’t the only Republican Senate candidate who has played on voters’ fears about immigration. Adam Laxalt, a former Nevada attorney general who won the state’s Republican primary last month, has struck a similar theme, telling supporters at an event in rural Nevada last year that illegal immigration was part of a Democratic strategy.

“It’s scary, scary stuff — 200,000 people pouring over the border every single month,” Mr. Laxalt said. “Is the media covering this wall to wall? Of course not. Because this is what the left wants. The left wants to radically transform this nation, and they want to destroy the values that made this country a great nation.”

The message is not a centerpiece of Mr. Laxalt’s campaign, and he has focused on Hispanic outreach, starting a “Latinos With Laxalt” campaign in Las Vegas in March with a mariachi band and free tacos. “The Republican Party represents the Latino community,” he said at the event. “We have shared values, and we need better messengers.”

Jesus Marquez, a Laxalt adviser, said that Mr. Laxalt’s remark last year was aimed at Democratic immigration policies, not at Latinos, and that the campaign was continuing its outreach to Hispanic voters, particularly in Las Vegas. “Latinos want security,” Mr. Marquez said. “They care about securing our border.”

White House Says It Does Not Keep Visitor Logs at Biden’s Delaware Home

WASHINGTON — White House officials said on Monday that there are no visitor logs that keep track of who comes and goes from President Biden’s personal residence in Wilmington, Del., where six classified documents were discovered in recent days. A top House Republican demanded on Sunday that the White House turn over visitor logs for […]

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A Florida School Received a Threat. Did a Red Flag Law Prevent a Shooting?

The requests were granted. But the results of the search were not what the detective expected. Memories of Parkland Nationally, more than 20,000 petitions for extreme risk protection orders were filed from 1999 to 2021, according to data collected by Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group. A vast majority of those petitions — more […]

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A Colossal Off-Year Election in Wisconsin

Lauren Justice for The New York Times Conservatives have controlled the court since 2008. Though the court upheld Wisconsin’s 2020 election results, last year it ruled drop boxes illegal, allowed a purge of the voter rolls to take place and installed redistricting maps drawn by Republican legislators despite the objections of Gov. Tony Evers, a […]

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