Newsom stumps for Ford and Horsford

California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the Nevada Democratic Party’s canvassing kickoff Saturday alongside U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford and state Attorney General Aaron Ford as the Nevada Democrats battle to win a state President Donald Trump won in 2024.

Newsom told dozens of volunteers packed into a sweltering field office in North Las Vegas that Ford’s campaign to replace Nevada’s incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo was “one of the key gubernatorial races” in the country. 

Although the incumbent’s campaign has raised a staggering amount of money, national analysts for months have rated the Nevada race for governor a toss-up, and Lombardo the most vulnerable Republican governor on the ballot in the U.S. this year.

“I’m not here to bash Lombardo, but it seems to me his biggest priority is to break his veto record every year, or he’s trying to find things to veto just so he gets his numbers up,” Newsom said. 

Lombardo broke the state’s record for vetoes after his first legislative session in 2023, and then broke that record in the days after the gavel came down on the 2025 session.

Ford has criticized Lombardo for vetoing numerous bills Ford believes would improve affordability for Nevadans, including a bill Ford has sponsored that would have banned corporations from buying up single-family homes, a policy that even Trump pushed in an executive order.

Ford called Lombardo “a doormat to Donald Trump.” 

During the canvassing kickoff Saturday Ford criticized Lombardo for attending a $5,000-a plate fundraiser in Washington, D.C. during the federal government shutdown last November while Democrats attempted to negotiate a plan to address skyrocketing Affordable Care Act premiums.

“The race is close. It’s going to be close, but we’re going to win. ” Ford said. “You deserve a fighter. Someone’s going to stand up. Someone who is unafraid to do that, and I’m going to be that governor.”

Newsom’s visit to Nevada comes almost a year after he launched Proposition 50, the voter-approved redistricting measure Democrats say could unseat five of the nine Republicans that represent California in Congress and improve their chances of reclaiming the House majority.

The move, which was a direct response to Trump ordering Texas to redistrict congressional districts to create more Republican House seats, helped Newsom jump to the top of the pack for the 2028 Democratic Party nomination for president, although the California governor has yet to confirm any White House ambitions.

“Did it surprise anybody that [Trump] called the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, saying he was ‘quote-unquote’ entitled to five seats from mid-decade redistricting to try to rig the election before even one vote was cast?” Newsom asked the crowd.

“You answered it,” a volunteer called back.

In a gaggle with press following the event, Newsom said presidential primary polls this far out are “catnip. They’re good for headlines. They’re good for gossip. They mean absolutely nothing at this stage, and won’t for well over another year objectively.”

Nevada has become a regular stop for politicians with presidential ambitions because of its early role in the Democratic presidential nominating process. This week’s trip will mark Newsom’s third visit since March 2025.

Republicans jumped at the chance to criticize Nevada Democrats for campaigning with the California governor. 

“Aaron Ford doesn’t represent Nevada; he represents what California and Gavin Newsom want Nevada to be. Nevadans know that California is a disaster, yet Aaron Ford wants to bring their chaos and crises to the Silver State,” said Republican Governors Association Communications Director Kollin Crompton in response to the event’s announcement.

Nevada’s three Democratic House seats are a part of the calculation to retake the House. Horsford, who joined Newsom and Ford at the canvassing kickoff, noted that his seat was “one of the 30 most competitive races in the House.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee listed the seat as a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans to grow their House majority — along with Nevada’s two other Democratically held House seats.  Horsford’s  Republican challenger is business owner and rancher Cody Whippler. 

“We don’t win the House Democratic majority unless we win and hold the fourth congressional district,” Horsford told the crowd of volunteers. 

Whipple faces an uphill battle to win the seat in the midterms. Democrats outnumber Republicans in active registered voters in the district by more than 20,000, and the Cook Political Report rates the race as “likely D.”

Horsford won the Southern Nevada seat in 2012, becoming the district’s first representative following the 2010 Census. He lost his re-election bid in 2014 but reclaimed the seat in 2018 and has held it ever since. 

Newsom told the crowd that “the right is ruthless” and that “they know how to win.”

“We have to be sober about this moment. The old rules no longer apply. The new rules are being written, and I don’t want them written by the other side. I don’t want to continue to react to the agenda of the other side,” Newsom said.

Newsom also deflected questions about whether Nevada should be the first-in-the-nation primary state, adding that “Nevada certainly has an argument to make.” 

“This is one of the most diverse states, truly representative of where I think not only America is going but where America is today,” Newsom said. 

Newsom also dismissed concerns over democratic socialists and progressive candidates winning primaries in New York and Colorado, adding that policy debate in the Democratic Party is “very healthy” and that he will gladly campaign for them to help Democrats retake power in Congress.

“I’m one of those Democrats that deeply believes in addition, not division, and so I want a big tent party. I want to win,” Newsom said. “We need to win back the House of Representatives. We need to save this republic, our democracy.”