Ford wins Nevada Democratic primary, sets rematch with Lombardo

Aaron Ford turned Nevada’s Democratic primary into a clear launchpad for a November rematch with Gov. Joe Lombardo, easing past Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill and locking in a race that will test both parties in one of the country’s most closely watched swing states. News outlets projected Ford the winner roughly two hours after polls closed on June 9, and one local report put his share at about 66 percent.

Hill conceded the race and congratulated Ford, writing that Democrats need to win to make Nevada fully blue again. Ford’s victory gave Democrats a candidate with statewide name recognition and a long record in Nevada politics, while Lombardo enters the fall as a first-term Republican incumbent with his own electoral base.

Ford, Nevada’s 34th attorney general, took office on January 7, 2019, and remains the first African American to hold statewide constitutional office in Nevada. His path to power has been close before: in 2018, he won his attorney general race by just 0.4 percent after advancing from the Democratic primary with 78.1 percent of the vote. That history underscores how competitive Nevada can be, even for candidates who look dominant in one stage of the contest.

The general election will replay many of the themes that defined the 2022 governor’s race, when Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak lost to Lombardo. Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff, won the governorship in November 2022 and was sworn in in January 2023 as Nevada’s 31st governor. He has entered the 2026 campaign emphasizing the economy, law and order, school choice, and accountability, a platform designed to appeal to voters worried about public safety and the cost of living.

That makes the matchup about more than one statehouse. The Associated Press described Nevada’s gubernatorial race as a bellwether for GOP governors in battleground states, and the state’s split-ticket history gives the outcome national significance. With Ford carrying the Democratic banner and Lombardo defending a seat Republicans will fight hard to keep, Nevada once again sits at the center of the political map.