Democrat Aaron Ford defeats Republican Governor Lombardo to become Nevada governor

Democrat Aaron Ford, the state's attorney general, has defeated Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in the Nevada governor's race. According to an Associated Press race call, Ford won what was considered one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the United States.

Ford will be the first Black governor of a state west of the Mississippi River. He was previously Nevada's first Black Senate majority leader and its first Black attorney general.

Ford was first elected to the state legislature in 2012. Before that he practiced law privately and taught math.

As attorney general, Ford successfully joined lawsuits against the Trump administration to uphold birthright citizenship, stop federal election interference and restore education funding.

Lombardo was elected governor in 2022 and was a sheriff before that. In this election he was endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Throughout his campaign, Ford blamed the state's economic woes on Lombardo and Trump, including some of the highest gas prices in the country at over $5 per gallon, and declining tourism, one of the state's main sources of revenue, due to tariffs and immigration crackdowns.

Nevada also risks losing an estimated $1.2 billion in federal funding due to changes to Medicaid, food assistance and cuts in the Affordable Care Act health insurance.

Ford has pledged to bring back bills that the outgoing Lombardo killed with his record-breaking vetoes, including limiting the number of homes large corporations can buy and giving the state the power to adopt Medicaid negotiated prescription drug prices.

Lombardo campaigned on telling voters he would continue the work of his first term, when he increased pay for teachers and state employees and set aside $133 million to develop housing for middle-income Nevadans.

Both candidates had a hand in tax breaks for data centers, but they argued over who would be tougher on them now.