(The Center Square) – Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced his reelection campaign in what is gearing up to be a competitive 2026 race.
The former Clark County sheriff’s first gubernatorial reelection campaign kicks off in a race that could lead him to face a state or county official in the general election. Lombardo is a Republican, and Attorney General Aaron Ford is running against Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill in the Democratic primary. The winner will run against Lombardo in the Nov. 3, 2026 election.
The latest poll, conducted by the Democratic Party-aligned The Majority Institute, showed Lombardo at 51% approval, with 38% in disapproval. His approval among Latino voters was marginally lower at 43%. The same poll found the governor’s weakest points to be the economy and his support for President Donald Trump.
During his speech announcing his reelection campaign, Lombardo stressed issues.
“ Nevadans didn’t send me to Carson City to play politics,” said Lombardo at his alma mater, Ranch High School in North Las Vegas. He talked to an orange hard hat-wearing crowd from Local Laborers Union 872.
“You sent me there to deliver results, restore balance to our political system, find consensus and solve real problems for everyday Nevadans,” he said.
Both the Nevada state Assembly and Senate are controlled by Democrats and often at odds with Lombardo. Democrats, though, don’t have enough seats to override the governor’s vetoes.
Both of Lombardo’s first two legislative sessions ended with record vetoes. The 85th regular session ended in June with 87 vetoes. In his speech he called the record vetoes “nothing to celebrate” because it was proof of “bad government.”
Still, he added, “ I won’t hesitate for a second to say no again, though.”
Later in his reelection announcement on Monday, Lombardo highlighted his policy issues. He started with job reports.
“ We are one of the top states for private investment,” said Lombardo. “That means more opportunity, more paychecks, and more security for Nevada families.”
“But we are not immune to global economic downturn,” he continued. “Or changing job markets – our unemployment rate is unacceptable, and so is the high number of vacant jobs waiting for the right applicant. That is why we will continue to invest in workforce training and cutting edge solutions to help match our workforce with continued private investment.”
Nevada’s unemployment rate (5.4%) is second-highest only to California (5.5%) in the numbers among states.
The governor moved onto education for several minutes of the roughly 20-minute speech, where he focused on increased funding, new curriculum and a greater reliance on charter schools.
But Lombardo steered clear of some other major topics, namely immigration. While talking about education he did not mention his veto of Assembly Bill 217, which would have prevented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from entering public school grounds.
Another topic the governor largely avoided was Trump, mentioned only once in reference to Lombardo’s support of ongoing efforts to sell public land for housing space in Nevada.
Lombardo also talked about his tough-on-crime stance, promotion of improved healthcare and housing affordability, taking credit for major public housing projects.
“ I’ve overseen the authorization of more than one billion in bonding authority to develop and preserve more than 5,500 rental homes, and to support over 3,300 new Nevada homeowners,” Lombardo said.
In one of his last statements, the governor ended with a warning.
“ If they [Democrats] take back power in Carson City, you know what will happen?” Lombardo said. “Higher taxes, fewer jobs, boys in girls sports, and more soft-on-crime laws that make everything we buy more expensive and everything we do less safe.”
