Vulnerable Senate Dem hit by GOP challenger for keeping offices shuttered due to COVID-19

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FIRST ON FOX: A Republican challenging Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., hit the vulnerable senator by asserting she is still shuttering her offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic even as America is back to work.

Former state Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a Republican, slammed Cortez Masto for allegedly keeping her office closed as the majority of her colleagues return to the office, launching the website NoShowMasto.com on Wednesday.

"Catherine Cortez Masto literally shut her doors on Nevada families in need," Laxalt said in a press release exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. "While Nevada families struggle to fill their gas tanks and buy basic goods at the grocery store, our no-show Senator offers them nothing but empty promises and no results."

CORTEZ MASTO PRAISES GROUP THAT CALLED FOR DEFUNDING POLICE, TEACHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN SCHOOLS

Then President Donald Trump joins then Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt at a gubernatorial campaign rally in Douglas County, Nevada in 2018. (Adam Laxalt campaign)

The website highlights Cortez Masto and her staff being physically absent from their offices both in Washington, D.C. and across Nevada, opting to continue teleworking.

"While hardworking Nevadans struggle to make ends meet, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto doesn’t even show up for her constituents," the website reads.

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 7: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is seen after a lunch with Senate Democrats in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, October 7, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The Washington Free Beacon reported back in March that Cortez Masto and a number of congressional Democrats were still working from home, with Cortez Masto’s door boasting a "cleaning not required" sign.

Laxalt’s campaign also traveled to Cortez Masto’s offices across the Silver State, posting on Twitter that not "a single one" of them was staffed, with some saying meetings could only happen "by appointment only."

Earlier this month, Cortez Masto’s spokeswoman Lauren Wodarski told local reporters that the senator’s offices across the state have been open. The senator’s office also claimed that the signs saying the staff was teleworking and meetings were "by appointment only" were left up by mistake.

"Our offices, including in Washington, D.C., have been and continue to be staffed in person and open to assist Nevadans, including our Washington, D.C. office," Wodarski said.

Cortez Masto’s office also said that their office was found locked because it was after business hours.

Adam Laxalt, Nevada's attorney general, center, speaks during a news conference hosted by the Trump Campaign outside the Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Free Beacon’s Matthew Foldi called out the office for removing the sign from her D.C. office after he "reported on its existence" and pointed out that the sign was up and office empty at nearly 2 p.m. in the afternoon.

Laxalt’s press release also points out that gas prices for Nevadans under Cortez Masto’s administration have skyrocketed from the $2.47 per gallon state average when she took office to $5.17 per gallon as of Tuesday.

Cortez Masto made headlines last year when she praised an activist group that has pushed left-leaning ideas surrounding race and law enforcement.

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It was reported by the Free Beacon that Cortez Masto said Battle Born Progress included "incredible advocates for our state." She made those comments on Nov. 3 while speaking at the self-described public relations firm's annual gala.

From 2017-2018, the group received nearly $100,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a so-called dark money group that funds liberal causes.

Fox News Digital’s Sam Dorman contributed to this report.