Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo and Democrat Aaron Ford won their primaries, NBC News projects, officially creating what is expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial contests of the fall.
Lombardo, the former Clark County sheriff, easily secured his party’s nomination over several quiet challengers as he seeks a second term. Ford defeated the Washoe County commissioner in the Democratic contest, winning about two-thirds of the vote.
Since Lombardo won his first gubernatorial election in Nevada, a perennial swing state, by less than 2 percentage points in 2022, he has become a top Democratic target if he loses. Among the five gubernatorial races, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter Considered a “draw”, Nevada is the only one to have a Republican running for re-election.
Ford, who previously served as the top Democrat in the state Senate, is vying to become Nevada’s first black governor.
The race, which had long been anticipated as a Lombardo-Ford clash, has already had national connotations. Ford and Democrats have sought to tie Lombardo to President Donald Trump, arguing that his policies on tariffs, immigration, the war in Iran and more have hurt Nevada and its economy.
Lombardo and his allies, meanwhile, portray him as a pragmatic Republican who worked with a Democratic-controlled Legislature on jobs, education and housing.
In many ways, Democrats are hoping to capitalize this year on some of the dynamics that contributed to their victory. narrow defeat in 2022. That year, like today, the party had an unpopular president in the White House, with high inflation and consumer prices. Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak could not escape these and other factors, and lost by just over 15,000 votes. (He was the only Democratic governor to lose re-election in 2022.)
But underscoring how politically divided Nevada is, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto narrowly won re-election the same year, defeating Republican Adam Laxalt by 7,900 votes. The same split occurred two years later, when Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost statewhile Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen defeated his Republican challenger.
“You have to be relentless out there, and you have to talk about these pocketbook issues,” said Joshua Marcus-Blank, a Democratic strategist who worked on Cortez Masto’s 2022 campaign and the Harris campaign’s Nevada operation. “We just have to be relentless on the economy.”
Nevada Democrats tried to tie Lombardo to Trump. economic issues. They include the “big, beautiful bill” that Trump signed into law last year, which will cut Medicaid in a state where about 1 in 3 people are on the program. The law also contains gambling tax provisions that will have a significant impact on a state whose economy relies almost exclusively on casinos and hotels.
Democrats also argued that Trump’s tariffs, which the Supreme Court struck down, had a negative impact on Tourism in Las Vegas.
And while gas prices have risen nationwide due to Trump’s war on Iran, those in Nevada in particular are among the highest in the United States, according to to AAA.
In a statement after Ford won his primary Tuesday night, campaign manager Zoë Kleinfeld called Lombardo “Trump’s human doormat” who “told Nevada workers who were breaking their backs to get by that we had to “feel a little pain” while its biggest donors saw their profits increase.
Chris Sloan, political director for the Democratic Governors Association, said on a recent call with reporters that Nevada is a “better pickup opportunity” this cycle.
“We are confident in this race for a number of reasons. First, Joe Lombardo is the most vulnerable governor up for re-election in the country, thanks to his poor record and his support of Trump’s cost-raising agenda,” Sloan said.
How Democrats present their message Latinos, who represent about 1 in 5 voters in Nevada, will likely weigh heavily on their chances of winning in November. Latino voters turned to Trump in Nevada in 2024, helping win the state’s first Republican presidential election. in 20 years.
As part of his reelection bid, Lombardo’s campaign has highlighted job creation under his leadership and to legislation he signed into law that will fund at least $130 million in what his administration has dubbed “accessible housing.”
Democrats note that despite job growth under Lombardo, the state’s unemployment rate increased during his four years and that it vetoed several other housing bills that the Democratic-controlled Legislature had supported.
In a statement after his primary victory, Lombardo walked a fine line between taking credit for job growth and private investment in the state, while acknowledging the reality of ongoing economic pressures.
“Our work is not done. There are still families feeling the pressure of rising costs, students who need more opportunities, and communities who deserve even more economic growth and investment,” he said. “That’s why I’m running for another term: to build on the progress we’ve made and finish the job.”
As governor of a swing state, Lombardo also walked a fine line between praising Trump and his policies and opposing them. For example, regarding Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” Lombardo praised many of its tax provisions, but also warned Congress not to changes to Medicaid funding before its passage.
Trump supported Lombardo in November, and Lombardo congratulated him in public appearances In recent month. But in particular Lombardo did not appear with Trump in April at an event in Las Vegas where he touted the “no tax on tips” provision of the “big, beautiful bill.”
The Better Nevada state PAC, which supports Lombardo, attacked Ford for missing his job as attorney general — according to an ad airing statewide. Ford missed 420 days — and take out-of-state trips paid for by nonprofit groups. Ford is being investigated over an ethics complaint by the State Ethics Commission because of some of those trips.
Ford campaign spokesperson Tai Sims told NBC News that the trip in question was due to Ford’s leadership role within the Attorney General’s Alliance and accused Lombardo and his allies of promoting a “false political narrative” about the trip.
Better Nevada spokesperson John Burke told NBC News, “With Joe Lombardo as governor, graduation rates are increasing in schools, job growth is leading the nation, and housing is more accessible for working families. He has been solely focused on getting things done for Nevada families of all backgrounds. This is in stark contrast to part-time state employee Aaron Ford.”
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said in a statement: “In November, Nevadans will choose to build on this momentum and re-elect Gov. Lombardo, rejecting absentee Aaron Ford.
Lombardo also enters the campaign for the general elections with fundraising benefits and advertising expenses. From Jan. 1 through Tuesday, the Lombardo campaign and allied groups have already spent about $8.5 million on ads, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact, while the Ford campaign spent $67,000 during the same period.
Still, Democrats are optimistic that an economy-focused message will be their key to success in November.
“You look at a lot of these economic challenges. A lot of them may have helped Trump win the state in 2024, when he said he was going to be able to solve them. But now they’re the exact same ones hanging around the governor’s record,” said Marcus-Blank, the Democratic strategist. “But not only has nothing changed since Donald Trump came in and said he was going to fix everything, but things haven’t gotten much better since the governor himself was elected.”
