Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford confirmed he plans to challenge Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race.
This week’s announcement made him the first Nevada Democrat to publicly state his intentions and the highest-profile member of his party to consider a bid to oust Lombardo.
“I do intend to seek higher office, and I have been having informal conversations with people across the state to better understand what they believe Nevada needs in its next governor,” Ford said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, confirming months of speculation about his candidacy. “These discussions are an important part of determining how I can best serve our state.”
Ford was first elected as Nevada’s attorney general in 2018 and decisively won a second term four years later.
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He previously represented Nevada’s 11th district in the state senate, subsequently rising to top leadership positions in the chamber.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford speaks at the Biden-Harris for Nevada team first-in-the-West celebration, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Lombardo has already declared his intention to run for a second term next election cycle “because it’s a huge challenge, and I thrive off the challenge.”
“And there’s a lot of broken pieces that need to get fixed,” he told the Nevada Independent in April.
Ford will face a likely grueling battle in a bid to defeat Lombardo.
The incumbent Republican has built a “getting s**t done” brand that has propelled his rise to become one of the most popular governors in the country.
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I caught up with Gov. Lombardo as he left the Legislative Building after his first State of the State Address. I asked him what he is most looking forward to:
Since he assumed office in 2022, with a victory that made him the only Republican in the country that year to flip a Democratic gubernatorial seat, Lombardo has signed more executive orders than any other Nevada governor. His hardball approach seems to have garnered favor with voters, who handed him a 58% approval rating, per January polling from Morning Consult.
Often the lone GOP voice in a state where Democrats hold majorities in both legislative chambers, Lombardo helped lead Republicans to key victories in Nevada this election cycle. After Nov. 5, Democrats lost their supermajority in the assembly and failed to gain a supermajority in the state senate. The election results scored a tactical victory for Lombardo, as without coveted two-thirds supermajorities in both legislative chambers, Democrats can’t override his vetoes.
As Ford prepares for his campaign against Lombardo, he attracted attention this week for breathing life into controversial charges against six Nevada Republicans labeled as “fake electors.” While the GOP efforts to name President-elect Donald Trump as the winner in the state during the 2020 presidential election were prosecuted, a state judge dismissed the case earlier this year.
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In a new complaint in a Carson City court filed Thursday, Ford asserted that “the actions the fake electors undertook in 2020 violated Nevada criminal law and were direct attempts to both sow doubt in our democracy and undermine the results of a free and fair election.”
“Justice requires that these actions not go unpunished,” the attorney general said.
Mojave (Nev.) head football coach Wes Pacheco announced on Sunday morning that he’s stepping down from his position, according to a social media post.
Pacheco announced his resignation after six seasons at the helm of the Rattlers, putting together a 29-22 overall record from 2020-2025.
“I have officially stepped down as Head Coach of the Mojave Football Program,” Pacheco said in his social media post. “Thank you to Principal Cole for giving me the opoortunity make an impact on the lives of Mojave Student-Athletes. I am grateful and blessed to have labored through a 6-year journey of successes, failures, life lessons, character building and growth with the student-athletes myself and my coaching staff have served. I will forever love my Mojave Family, the Mojave Community and believe in the notion that SUCCESS can be attained by showcasing character, treating everyone with respect, and always have the courage to dream big and trust that “ATTACKING THE HARD WORK” & “HIGH MOTORING EVERYTHING” can yield SUCCESS that you want to achieve in life!”
During Pacheco’s half dozen seasons leading Mojave, his best record came in the 2024 season when the Rattlers finished with a 12-1 record. Located out of North Las Vegas, Mojave had to compete against the likes of national high school football powerhouse Bishop Gorman during the regular season.
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Mojave ended the last season with a 4-6 record and as the state’s No. 23rd ranked team, according to the final 2025 Nevada High School Football Massey Rankings.
More about Mojave High School
Mojave High School, located in North Las Vegas, NV, is a dynamic public high school that fosters academic excellence, personal growth, and community involvement. Home of the Rattlers, MHS offers a wide range of academic programs, athletics, and extracurricular activities. With a strong commitment to student success, Mojave emphasizes leadership, college and career readiness, and a supportive school culture that prepares students for life beyond graduation.
For Nevada high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Silver State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school football excitement across Nevada.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
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So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
