Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo launches re-election campaign

Joking that it was the “worst kept secret,” Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo officially kicked off his reelection campaign Monday evening at Rancho High School, his alma mater.

Lombardo was joined by Latin Chamber of Commerce CEO Peter Guzman and former Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, who emphasized the governor’s role in Carson City: blocking what Hutchison termed the Democrats’ “radical agenda.”

The 2022 election “placed Joe Lombardo as the last line of defense for us as Nevadans,” said Hutchison, who served alongside Republican Brian Sandoval while he was governor. “He’s been a firewall in Carson City to prevent a one-party rule in the state of Nevada.”

To the applause of over 100 LiUNA construction union members in attendance, Hutchison highlighted Lombardo’s record-breaking 87 vetoes this past legislative session. That eclipsed Lombardo’s 75 vetoes during the 2023 session.

Without the former Clark County Sheriff leading the state, Nevada would be seeing higher taxes and a questionable election process, Hutchison said.

Lombardo later added his own list of what it would mean if Democrats “take back power in Carson City”: “fewer jobs, boys in girls’ sports and more soft-on-crime laws.”

“Make no mistake about how important this is, guys. Those vetoes he used — I was there. I lived it in Carson City,” Guzman said. “Some of those bills were going to crush small business, crush the (LiUNA members) behind us and crush all of us.”

The governor said the striking number of vetoes was nothing to celebrate. It’s an example of “bad government,” he said. But that doesn’t mean he’d change how he handled those bills.

“I’m proud of what we have advanced, but don’t think for a second I’m not absolutely ready to be your backstop against the agenda of my opponents,” Lombardo said.

And as the Democrats coalesce around Attorney General Aaron Ford as their pick for governor, the Nevada GOP isn’t interested in a prolonged primary for the sitting governor. Shortly after Monday’s kickoff, the Assembly Republican Caucus backed Lombardo.

Assembly Republican Leader Gregory Hafen II, R-Pahrump, wrote in a statement that Lombardo’s leadership has “set Nevada on a path to prosperity, and we are confident he will continue to deliver for our state.”

And Lombardo is coming into the race as a frontrunner, with the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics listing the Nevada gubernatorial race as leaning Republican. The governor also has a 53% approval rating, 21 points above the 32% of Nevadans who disapprove, according to Morning Consult.

Joining the Assembly GOP, the state Republican Party announced it was endorsing Lombardo after the campaign event, citing his work to invest in education and housing.

The governor’s focus on jobs was also instrumental in garnering the support of the sea of orange LiUNA shirts at Rancho High.

Tommy White, secretary treasurer of Laborers Local 872, told the Sun he’s interested in “jobs, jobs, jobs and building a movie studio,” referring to the tax credit plan for a Summerlin studio that died in the legislature but could be revived in a special session.

“We’re going to come out and support him at every event that he has,” White said of Lombardo. “We do our politics a little bit different. We don’t support parties; we support the person. And we believe he’s done a fantastic job for us.”

White didn’t have harsh criticisms of Ford, saying that he’s been a good attorney general and that the union supported him as a state senator.

“But we’re going to stick with Joe,” he said.

Nevada Democrats had their own counterprogramming Monday morning before Lombardo’s announcement. State Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, said the state couldn’t take another four years of Lombardo at the wheel, citing the state’s housing crisis and high unemployment rate. 

“Take it from Lombardo himself,” Nevada Young Dems President Sierra Hernandez said at Mothership Coffee’s downtown shop. “He said, ‘The unemployment rate hasn’t gotten better.’ If that’s the case, why does he deserve to stay in office?”

Mothership Coffee CEO Juanny Romero also drew attention to how President Donald Trump’s trade war has impacted Nevada, saying it’s driving Las Vegas’ depressed tourism numbers. At the same time Romero is seeing reduced traffic, coffee prices are shooting up, she said.

Romero is working under tighter margins while trying not to pass those costs to her customers, she said.

“And the question (small businesses are) asking is: How long can we keep this up?” Romero said. “And how long can we shield our community from Trump’s recklessness backed by Republicans like Lombardo?”

Lombardo addressed the state’s 5.4% unemployment rate Monday, calling it “unacceptable” while saying the state is “not immune to global economic downturn or changing job markets.”

He was similarly critical of the “high number of vacant jobs waiting on 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,” Lombardo said. “That’s what you asked us to do, and that’s what we have done.”

Along with his own race, Lombardo asked the crowd of supporters to help “change the makeup of the legislature,” which is currently dominated by Democrats. Last year, Democrats fell short in achieving a supermajority to nullify Lombardo’s vetoes.

Responding to the governor’s campaign launch, Ford wrote on social media that “everything is more expensive with Joe Lombardo.”

“I want him to be known for actually having the backs of his own people. That’s what I want him to be known for,” Neal said Monday morning of the governor. “Currently, that’s not the legacy he’s leaving.”