A Democratic senator at risk of losing her seat recently signed new legislation targeting flash-mob and other organized retail theft crimes.
Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said in a press release over the weekend that she was working with Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, on legislation to target “the rise in flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes sweeping the nation.”
“The Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act establishes a coordinated multi-agency response and creates new tools to tackle evolving trends in organized retail theft,” the two senators said in a joint release.
The announcement comes just a few weeks ahead of the midterm elections in which Cortez Masto will face Adam Laxalt, who previously served as the Nevada attorney general and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
This month, Data for Progress polled 874 likely voters in the swing state and found 47 percent siding with Laxalt to 46 percent for Cortez Masto. The poll also found that the candidates have a similar net favorable rating, as 43 percent said they have a favorable view of Cortez Masto and 50 percent disagreed, while 41 percent said they have a favorable view of Laxalt and 49 percent said the opposite.
FiveThirtyEight’s average shows Laxalt leading by .9 percent in several recent polls.
Another recent poll conducted by Civiqs found President Joe Biden with a low approval rating in Nevada, which he won in 2020.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told Newsweek on Monday that Biden’s low approval rating in Nevada (38 percent) and other swing states could hurt some Democratic candidates in the midterms, saying that they “will have to spend time on defense or avoiding questions about Biden and less time on their own messages.”
In a statement about the crime legislation, Cortez Masto said, “Law enforcement must have access to the tools they need to crack down on organized crime groups that target shops and retailers in Nevada and across the country. My bipartisan legislation will do just that by going after large-scale criminal schemes and working with the retail industry to deter, detect, and prosecute these crimes.”
Over the past several months, organized retail theft and flash-mob looting have been on the rise, with elected officials in California and other states calling for more action to be taken. In New Jersey, state senators previously introduced legislation that would require flash-mob looters and retail thieves to face jail time.
“We’re seeing more and more instances where flash mobs of shoplifters have run through clothing stores, pharmacies and even a 7-Eleven recently, where they smash and grab anything that isn’t bolted down,” Republican state Senator Jon Bramnick of New Jersey said this month, according to WKXW.
Newsweek reached out to Cortez Masto’s office for further comment.