By Mark Robison, Reno Gazette Journal, February 12, 2025
Ready or not, the 2026 race for the Nevada governor’s seat started this week.
“Team Lombardo” — Gov. Joe Lombardo’s campaign organization — sent out its first email touting internal polling that shows Nevadans love each and every one of the Republican governor’s priorities for the 2025 Legislature.
A campaign salvo launched so early is understandable given that his seat is considered vulnerable.
The Cook Political Report, a national campaign forecaster, recently released its 2026 governor race ratings. It categorized only one with a sitting Republican governor as a tossup — and that’s Lombardo in Nevada.
The other tossups it lists are for Democratic governors in Arizona and Wisconsin plus open seats with no incumbent in Michigan, Georgia and Virginia.
Lombardo’s only opponent on the campaign radar at this point is Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat.
Ford is term-limited out of seeking another term as attorney general.
While he hasn’t made any overt moves to announce he’s running for governor, Ford has acknowledged this is in his future. Asked Wednesday to confirm his plans, his campaign team responded, “Yes, General Ford does intend to run for governor in 2026.”
The latest campaign financial reports show Lombardo with a war chest topping $5.5 million and Ford with about $440,000.
Results of poll for Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s legislative priorities
As for the poll, it surveyed 606 likely Nevada voters in December.
It “shows that Governor Lombardo’s proposals on housing, public safety, economic development, healthcare, criminal justice and school choice all have the support of over 71% of Nevadans,” according to the Team Lombardo news release.
The polling questions seemed designed to elicit positive responses. For example, they asked survey participants if they think it would be effective or ineffective to roll back “soft on crime policies” and to “give families a real choice in education” by helping “students stuck in failing schools.”
The poll has a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points. It was conducted by The Tarrance Group, which ranks 146th out of 282 pollsters receiving ratings on the data analysis site 538; the rankings are “based on the historical track record and methodological transparency of each polling firm’s polls.”
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to [email protected] or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page.