The word “dysfunctional” has been overdone when it comes to the state of the 2022 Nevada Republican Party, so I will refrain from using it today.

“Schizophrenic” comes to mind, but the disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly sounds like a professional diagnosis. “Bat guano crazy” has a ring to it, but that doesn’t apply to the whole party despite strong rumors to the contrary.

Whatever you call it, you can’t say the Nevada Republican Party under the leadership of long-serving Chairman Michael McDonald is doing any favors for its current stars, U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt and gubernatorial hopeful Joe Lombardo. Receiving the state party’s thumbs-up was supposed to be the easy part, and somehow McDonald failed to pull it off.

Laxalt and Lombardo had received the anointment of the GOP’s most important member, former President Donald Trump. Despite Trump’s scandal-a-minute administration and blushing bromance with Russia’s Vlad Putin, Republican candidates continue to line up around the block for a chance to win his loving embrace. Teeny boppers didn’t swoon like this for Elvis or Sinatra, but then I suppose those guys didn’t have Trump’s hairdo.

Trump’s endorsement should have been a stop sign that even Joey Gilbert’s loyalists could recognize, but they blew right through the intersection. Supporters of war veteran Sam Brown were supposed to be scared off by Laxalt’s family name and friends in high places, but they didn’t flinch and his allies cheered when he won the Senate endorsement at the state convention. The delegate votes weren’t close.

By the time the red meat-and-potatoes base finished, the chosen ones had received the cold shoulder, the image-obsessed Trump had been chumped, and you would think that McDonald would have had some explaining to do. Apparently, the Nevada GOP is a lot more forgiving than advertised.

It’s hard to judge Laxalt’s comfort level these days. From the decidedly mixed outcome of the state convention, he’s not exactly bringing down the house on the campaign trail. He appears to have needed an assist from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a genuine right-wing firebrand, to liven the loyalists during a recent roadshow through rural Nevada and down to the edge of Henderson.

You would think Laxalt had Winnemucca, Sparks, and the Sun City Republicans in the bag by now.

Cruz went out of his way to enthuse about “the barnstorming tour across the state of Nevada. We’re here in Henderson, Nevada, getting ready to do a big rally. I’ve got to say, it’s amazing, Adam. The men and women of Nevada, they are rising up to take Nevada back, to turn it red, to retire Chuck Schumer, to retake the senate. Adam Laxalt is how we’re going to retire Chuck Schumer.”

It looks like Adam has to retire Sam Brown first.

I’m frankly not sure what kind of message it sends using Cruz as a headliner. At best, it shows Laxalt can dial up top Senate Republicans. More likely, it’s an attempt to pump up a low-energy campaign that needs to start drinking more Red Bull.

Will it take a visit from Trump to liven up Laxalt?

It’s a safe bet that political observers believed Laxalt would have had Brown in his rearview mirror months ago. Instead, his campaign recently produced ads blasting Brown as a carpetbagger – in 2014, he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Texas Legislature – make him seem less sure of himself as the primary approaches.

That same year in Nevada, Laxalt ran successfully for state attorney general. That campaign was described as “agile” and one that moved swiftly to respond to the opposition. At the time, Laxalt had lived in Nevada for just three years.

You can’t trust a politician who lives somewhere else and pops up in Nevada to run for office — unless his name is Laxalt?

Is Brown getting under Laxalt’s skin?

Last week, Laxalt and Brown engaged in a downright gentlemanly “debate” on Sam Shad’s “Newsmakers” program. Laxalt held his own, which I suspect was not the image he wanted to project. Perceptions of these things vary widely, but his answers seemed consistent but canned. Perhaps, like a roadshow through the rurals, this was just another box to check, another hour to kill, on the way to the big event and showdown with Democratic Party incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto.

It sure felt that way.

Brown didn’t ring every bell. Many of his answers mirrored Laxalt’s, which could have come directly from Trump himself in the areas of “election integrity” and the like. For his part, Brown skewered Laxalt for not acting sooner to litigate Trump’s election fraud big lie.

Sitting at a distance, the most memorable line came from Brown, who observed, “Mr. Laxalt relies on endorsements because Nevadans can’t rely on him.”

Not sure one line or 100 will make the primary between the war-scarred new guy and the GOP’s rising star in Nevada any more competitive, but we’ll see soon enough. Early voting begins May 28.

Correction (8:13 a.m. on 5/16/22): The original version of this column stated that Sam Brown ran for Congress in Texas. He ran for the Texas Legislature.

John L. Smith is an author and longtime columnist. He was born in Henderson and his family’s Nevada roots go back to 1881. His stories have appeared in Time, Readers Digest, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Ruralite and Desert Companion, among others. He also offers weekly commentary on Nevada Public Radio station KNPR.