RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) is in a strong position heading into the thick of his 2026 reelection bid — a huge war chest, almost universal name recognition and strong favorability numbers among the electorate.

Though Lombardo is likely focusing on the general election already, he faces 6 longshot candidates in the GOP primary seeking to upset him in June.

Nevada Governor GOP primary: 6 longshot candidates taking on incumbent Joe Lombardo

The challengers face a ‘Herculean’ task, said Mike Noble, CEO and founder of Noble Predictive Insights, an Arizona-based nonpartisan pollster focusing on the Southwest region.

“I see it as a Herculean task for anyone. If someone was coming in with like, I don’t know $10 million or something to spend, sure I can see that might be competitive, but I don’t see any of them coming anywhere near close to that. And so again, I just think I think it’s a non-factor at this point,” Noble said.

RELATED | Ballot Battleground: Nevada podcast: Early Noble poll shows dead heat in governor’s race

Despite the long odds, News 4-Fox 11 reached out to all candidates requesting an interview as part of our commitment to 2026 election coverage and our Know Your Candidates series. Three of the 7 running interviewed with us — Irina Hansen, Kameron Hawkins, Lombardo and Jose Zelaya did not respond to multiple emails requesting an interview.

We asked them similar questions about Gov. Lombardo’s leadership as governor, how they would pass a balanced budget and whether they support taxpayer subsidies for sports teams or major projects.

Click the candidate’s name to watch their full interview. Quotes below have been edited for space and clarity.

Donald J. Beaudry Jr. is an entrepreneur who founded BlkEdgeAi, a financial technology firm specializing in AI-driven trading systems and market strategy, according to his campaign website.

He told News 4-Fox 11 that Nevada has been drifting the last four years with ‘no captain, no vision.’ He believes his Wall Street-like trading market called NGEX (Nevada Global Exchange) would generate enough revenue to eliminate sales taxes, property taxes, business taxes and vehicle registration fees.

“I completely blueprinted it out and calculated that this model could generate enough revenue in this state that we could eliminate all the state taxes and fees that are currently in place and use that as the revenue source for the state and make everybody, every man, woman and child throughout Nevada, a shareholder in the dividends of that exchange … it would be a kind of Wall Street type of stock market, but far broader, more advanced, and exponentially more profitable.”

Matthew Rian Winterhawk is the founder of SmartSlaps foundation, a nonprofit that works to help schools and students with civic engagement and community responsibility.

If elected, he described going through a DOGE-like review of the state budget to determine which areas can be cut or kept depending on their ‘dollar to impact’ ratio.

“What I would like to do is go through every department, I’m talking top to bottom, from here from the primary to the beginning. We will cut every piece of administrative bloat across the system … I need more money for my teachers. Teachers never see it, students never see it, the impact never reaches the classroom. It’s 100% administrative bloat.”

The son of immigrants, Barak Zilberberg is now an entrepreneur and real estate investor based in Las Vegas. He ran for governor in 2022, earning 0.2% of the vote in the GOP primary. He told News 4-Fox 11 he’s also running for President in 2028.

He said he’s running for governor to improve the educational system, bring jobs to Nevada and open up federal land to build more affordable housing.

“We’ve got get high-speed railing systems in here where we can transit very easily, efficiently, and basically moving around between economies of both cities. Not only that, I’d like to bring Disneyland here and the Olympics, sponsor the Olympics here. I just want to make this a well-known place of entertainment, a hub.”

To help voters make informed decisions this election year, News 4-Fox 11 is publishing and broadcasting dozens of interviews with candidates who will appear on the June primary ballot.

In fairness to all candidates, they were asked a series of similar questions. We are posting the full interviews online so voters can watch their responses in their entirety.

Visit our Know Your Candidates 2026 page to view other race previews and meet other candidates.

Email reporter Ben Margiott at bjmargiott@sbgtv.com. Follow @BenMargiott on X and Ben Margiott KRNV on Facebook.

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — One woman is dead following a head-on collision on US-95 Sunday afternoon.

Nevada Highway Patrol responded to a report of a crash at 4:41 p.m. at mile marker 105, approximately 45 miles north of Beatty. The crash involved two sport utility vehicles.

One adult female driver was confirmed dead at the scene. The other driver was transported to a local area hospital with injuries.

MORE ON FOX5: Report: Nevada traffic deaths down 33% for April

No road closures are in effect. Investigations are being conducted on the southbound shoulder area.

Nevada Highway Patrol, a division of the Nevada State Police, is asking motorists to slow down and use caution in the area as troopers and investigators work at the scene.

Further information will be provided following the preliminary investigation.

Last week I wrote about soft versus armored scale insects. Soft scales exude honeydew, are protected by ants and can be controlled by systemic insecticides, some of which have the active ingredient imidacloprid. Armored scales do not emit honeydew and are not managed by an imidacloprid insecticide.

Imidacloprid is a systemic neonicotinoid insecticide that is designed to kill piercing/sucking insects via damage to their nervous system. Systemic means it is applied on the leaves, stems or as a soil drench and spreads internally throughout the plant. When an insect feeds on any part of the plant such as the pollen, nectar, flowers, fruit, leaves, or other plant tissues, it ingests the toxic chemical and dies.

Systemic insecticides can kill not only pests such as soft scales, but also their natural enemies and non-target/beneficial insects such as bees and other pollinators, including butterflies, moths and their larvae. They also can “adversely affect reproduction, growth, insect immune systems, learning, flying, or other attributes even at concentrations too low to cause death outright.” Native bees, who often nest in the ground, can be more susceptible than honeybees, particularly to soil drench applications. 

Systemic insecticides kill over time at a steady concentration, which can cause a longer toxic exposure. Although it is often suggested to apply in the evening when insects aren’t out, or after flowering season, harmful exposures can still occur. These chemicals can last for months or years in soil. They sometimes leach into groundwater but fortunately are usually only slightly toxic to fish. One application may provide season long control.

Chemical insecticides are always a last resort. The risks versus benefits must be carefully evaluated. A healthy thriving plant is one of the best defenses against scale or other insect damage. Good watering, the appropriate amount of fertilizer and maintenance keep a plant resistant to attacks. Predators, including lady beetles, bugs and lacewings, play an important part in pest management.

Plant a diversity of flowering plants to attract and feed natural enemies. Sometimes when you see scales on a plant, they may have already been parasitized by parasitic wasps. If a large number are parasitized, there are eggs in or on each scale eating away at them. Sometimes scales are no longer alive and do not require a pesticide treatment. Check before applying insecticides. Using tape traps to monitor crawlers will help you accurately time the use of horticulture oils, Neem oil or insecticidal soap. Dormant oil treatment on deciduous woody plants will help kill overwintering scale pests and reduce future populations.

JoAnne Skelly is an Associate Professor and Extension Educator, Emerita, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at skellyj@unr.edu.

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