Governor of Nevada since January 2023. Former Clark County sheriff. Campaign affiliation: Republican.
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Voter guide
Background, stated goals, record, and money
Background comes from official records, and from the campaign's own biography where the bullet says so; goals are summarized from the campaign's own platform and stay attributed; the record lines are official actions with the government source attached; money is shown as filed, with the filing window and the reconciliation in the note under the table, and is not evidence of why any position was taken.
The Legislature lists 75 bills he vetoed from the 2023 session and 86 from 2025. Its 2025 list leaves out SB 99, which he vetoed on June 2, 2025, so 2025 had 87, as his office said: 162 in all. The Legislature's veto history shows no governor with more than 56 from 1899 through 2015, and no later session with more than 41.
He signed Assembly Bill 540 on June 9, 2025. It puts $133 million from the state general fund into a new housing account and calls for up to $50 million in state bonds for housing loans: $183 million together.
On June 16, 2023, he vetoed Senate Bill 395. It would have capped home purchases by corporations and LLCs at 1,000 units a year statewide and made them register. His veto message called the cap arbitrary and said it would cut tax revenue, reduce new construction and discourage landlords when renters need more homes.
Limit: The veto was in 2023; the platform is from his 2026 campaign. A spokesperson now says he backs President Trump's efforts to stop corporate investors buying single-family homes.
Joseph Lombardo
Tougher fentanyl trafficking penalties
Matches stated record claim
What they say
His campaign says he increased penalties on fentanyl traffickers.
“Increased penalties on fentanyl traffickers to crack down on drug crimes”
He signed Senate Bill 35 on June 14, 2023. It made 28 grams or more of illegally made fentanyl a trafficking crime; other drug trafficking starts at 100 grams.
The rate did fall about 15%, from 1.378% to 1.17%, on July 1, 2023. But a 2015 state law cut it automatically because tax collections ran high. The Department of Taxation made that finding on September 30, 2022, before he took office.
He signed Senate Bill 503, the 2023-25 school funding bill, on May 31, 2023. The state Education Department called it the largest K-12 increase in state history: $2.6 billion more over two years.
On June 1, 2023, he vetoed AB 359, which would have let Clark County keep raising its fuel taxes each year after 2026 by a county commission vote instead of the public vote the law called for. His veto letter said voters should decide. On May 19, 2025, he signed AB 530, which also replaces the 2026 public vote: the increases continue if two-thirds of the county commission approve them by the end of 2026. Increases after 2036 need voter approval.
On June 9, 2025, he signed SB 498, which gives the state's colleges $10 million a year for two years to expand nursing programs. The money was in his proposed budget, and both chambers passed the bill with no votes against.
Clark County's ballot order lists three candidates for governor: Aaron D. Ford (Democratic), Danielle Ford (no party) and Joseph Lombardo (Republican), plus "None of these candidates."