Lombardo’s policies designed to benefit campaign contributors, not Nevadans, Ford says

With days to go until early voting begins in one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the nation, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, is suggesting that his opponent, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s decisions are dictated by campaign contributors rather than policy rationale.

“Draw your own conclusions,” Ford said at a news conference in Las Vegas, hours before President Donald Trump is expected to spend the night in his Strip hotel before a rally in Bullhead City, AZ, on Wednesday. 

Lombardo, Ford said, is “only governor because a real estate billionaire gave him $30 million in campaign cash,” and “in exchange, we’ve seen Lombardo veto legislation that would have lowered housing costs for working families.” 

Ford is referring to billionaire Robert Bigelow, the owner of a slew of weekly motels rented by individuals and families who can’t afford to purchase a home or rent an apartment. 

In 2022, Bigelow infused roughly $30 million into Lombardo’s campaign and a political action committee tied to Lombardo.

Lombardo subsequently vetoed legislation intended to reduce the cost of housing by limiting the number of homes corporate investors could buy. He later enlisted a Republican lawmaker to kill a similar bill. 

“He’s vetoed legislation to cap prescription drug costs,” Ford said of Lombardo’s vetoes of two bills that would have capped prescription drug prices. “Then he’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from greedy drug companies.”

Ford suggested contributions from energy companies totalling $40,000 came after the Lombardo-appointed Public Utilities Commission approved NV Energy’s controversial peak demand charge. 

The utility contends the charge, which goes into effect in January, will not increase revenue for the utility but will redistribute the utility’s cost of supplying service to rooftop solar customers. 

Lombardo’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s allegations. 

“Your housing, your healthcare, and utility costs are sky high right now because Joe Lombardo would rather use his veto pen to pad the pockets of Trump’s billionaire friends than ensure that working Nevadans can reach their version of the American dream,” Ford said.

With the price of gasoline above $5.00 a gallon, Trump and Lombardo are “gaslighting” Nevadans about the state of the economy, Ford said, adding that Lombardo “has sided with Donald Trump and his billionaire friends at every opportunity.”

Lombardo’s largesse extends beyond nixing unfavorable legislation on behalf of contributors, some contend.

Last year, the governor terminated Adam Sullivan, the state’s longtime water engineer. The move came a month after mining companies complained to the governor’s office of Sullivan’s efforts to reduce groundwater pumping in some areas, the Nevada Independent reported in April.  

Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture of Barrick and Newmont, contributed $500,000 to Lombardo in 2024 and $500,000 in March of this year, according to campaign contribution reports.

Ford’s comments about Lombardo come on the day Trump’s ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, resigned following allegations that she attempted to sell access to the president in exchange for payment of her $100,000 credit card bill. 

Asked about varying forms of grifting among government officials, Ford declined to “draw parallels. “I’ll leave it to others to draw their own conclusions.”