Nevada Governor Race 2026: Lombardo vs. Ford

Nevada’s incumbent, Joe Lombardo (R), a former Clark County sheriff with a 34-year law enforcement career, faces Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), a former public school teacher and state Senate majority leader who has been attorney general since 2019. Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball both rate it a toss-up. Lombardo has cast himself as a check on the Democratic legislature, with 162 vetoes across two sessions, the most by any Nevada governor; on housing he points to a bipartisan housing law that has begun funding new homes and rentals, and he wants more federal land turned over for development. Ford is running on affordability, promising to be “the most pro-working-class governor” the state has seen; he would sign new versions of vetoed bills on prescription drug costs, corporate home buying, and free school meals, and he backs repealing right-to-work. He argues Lombardo vetoed housing bills after a real estate billionaire put about $30 million into his campaign and an allied PAC in 2022. Lombardo’s side has made Ford the issue, tying him to California through Newsom’s endorsement and hitting his travel as attorney general; a state ethics panel advanced a complaint over more than $35,000 in sponsored international trips, an allegation rather than a finding. In October the fight turned to crime: a pro-Lombardo ad hit Ford for sponsoring a clemency application for a man convicted of manslaughter in the killing of a pregnant woman. A 2News fact check called the ad’s early-release claim misleading, but Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D) said she would not have sponsored it. Lombardo’s job approval is split, 45 to 47, while Nevada voters disapprove of Trump 61 to 38. The money still favors Lombardo: his allied PAC has spent or reserved more than $29.3 million in ads to about $14.1 million for the main Democratic group, though Ford out-raised him in direct contributions last quarter. The two are unlikely to debate. Danielle Ford (I), a state Board of Education member (not the attorney general), is also on the ballot and drew 7 percent in the Noble poll.