Longtime Nevada lobbyist Kathleen “Neena” Laxalt, 67, died Friday morning after a prolonged battle with cancer, Laxalt’s first cousin Monique Laxalt told The Nevada Independent.
“She was the heart and soul of the family,” Monique Laxalt said. “It’s a huge loss and there are a lot of people in mourning this morning. We will miss her terribly.”
Neena was the youngest child of former Gov. and Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-NV), who was considered former President Ronald Reagan’s closest friend in politics.
Coming from a storied political family with close Republican ties, Neena Laxalt drew attention for her decision to switch her party registration from Republican to nonpartisan. She also made headlines for endorsing Democrat Aaron Ford over his Republican opponent Wes Duncan in the race for attorney general in 2018, and for not supporting her nephew, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt, in his unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial bid against former Gov. Steve Sisolak and his 2022 attempt to unseat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
“In our family, all of us are given free rein in our own individual feelings, thoughts and principles,” Neena Laxalt told The Associated Press in 2014 after she announced her party registration change. “We are not strictly partisan in our family.”
Though newspapers detailed Neena Laxalt’s political decisions, she was better known in the Legislature as a mentor who hosted the new lobbyist training classes and willingly shared advice, tips and guidance. Friends, colleagues and family described her as a person with strong convictions, tenacity and a deep love of animals. One person said Laxalt was “a legend.”
Monique Laxalt, daughter of famed author Robert Laxalt and a longtime Reno lawyer, described herself as “one of Neena’s many first cousins.” Beyond her accomplishments in the Legislature, Monique Laxalt said her cousin held a deep love of the Sierra Nevada, spending copious amounts of time in the mountains.
“Since childhood, she was very impish, had a great sense of humor and was very tough when she had to be,” Monique Laxalt said. “And she was highly intelligent and very hardworking.”
A descendant of immigrants from France’s Basque region, Neena Laxalt grew up in Carson City and was a second-generation Nevadan. She moved to Arizona and began lobbying in 1987 with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
In 1995, she returned to Nevada and, two years later, opened a lobbying business. In her more than 30 years of experience, Neena Laxalt represented clients in various fields, including regulatory boards, health care and natural resources. In 2017, colleagues recognized her by inducting her into the Nevada Legislature’s James A. Joyce Lobbyist Hall of Fame.
Former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval made Neena Laxalt co-chair of the Nevada Sesquicentennial Planning Committee in 2011 and appointed her vice chair of the Nevada 150 Commission in 2013. The commission spearheaded the state’s sesquicentennial events, education, special projects and grants.
Neena Laxalt also became chair in 2015 of the Stewart Indian School Preservation Alliance, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Stewart Indian School, where thousands of Native American children from Western tribes were forced to live as part of an attempt by the U.S. government to eliminate Native cultures and languages.
She is survived by her only child — daughter, Kevan Danielle Burris (Laxalt) — and her 5-year-old granddaughter Grace Laxalt.
This story was updated 1/3/2025 at 2 p.m. to indicate Neena Laxalt was 67.
