Democrat Aaron Ford defeated Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in the Nevada governor's race, the Associated Press reported. Ford will become the state's first Black governor.
The AP called the race early Wednesday, Nov. 4, with 85% of votes counted and Ford leading by seven percentage points, KTNV reported. Ford held 52% of the vote to Lombardo's 44% at the time of the call, KTNV reported, citing AP results. Nonpartisan candidate Danielle Ford was also on the ballot.
The outcome rippled across Northern Nevada. Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former Assembly majority leader and social worker from Reno, became the first Democrat to win the 2nd Congressional District, which covers Sparks, Reno and surrounding rural communities, The Nevada Independent reported. She defeated Republican David Flippo in a district President Donald Trump won by 14 points in 2024. Benitez-Thompson also served as chief of staff to Ford, according to KRNV.
What Ford ran on
Ford, 54, is Nevada's two-term attorney general. He is term-limited in that office, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. A former teacher and state Senate majority leader, he became the first African American to hold statewide constitutional office in Nevada, according to an AP report carried by KLTV.
Ford centered his campaign on affordability. He promised to tackle student loan debt and crack down on AI data center development, the AP reported. He criticized Lombardo for vetoing bills Ford said would have helped Nevadans, including restrictions on corporate homeownership and free school meals.
"This campaign didn't happen by accident," Ford said at a Democratic watch party Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to the AP. "It happened because of faith, because of family, because of hard work, and because the people of Nevada decided that our best days are still ahead of us."
Lombardo's record
Lombardo was seeking a second term. A columnist for the Nevada Appeal wrote that Lombardo played a central role in a $2.6 billion increase in K-12 school funding in 2023 with accountability measures. The column also stated Lombardo issued 162 vetoes in his first term and maintained a "no tax hikes" policy.
Lombardo raised $25 million through his campaign and an affiliated PAC across the first nine months of 2026, The Nevada Independent reported. Republicans outspent Democrats by more than $32.6 million on the governor's race, the Independent reported.
Broader sweep hits Northern Nevada
Ford's win came as part of a broader Democratic sweep. Democrats flipped three Republican-held statewide offices while holding three others, The Nevada Independent reported. Democrats also secured a two-thirds supermajority in the Assembly, the Independent reported.
In Washoe County, Democrats were on track to flip one and likely two county commission seats, the Reno Gazette Journal reported. Kate Marshall held a roughly 2-to-1 lead in the Reno mayor's race, the RGJ reported.
Closer to Sparks, the Washoe County School District (WCSD) Board of Trustees District F seat was on the ballot. That nonpartisan, at-large seat covers portions of central and south Reno and Sparks, according to KRNV. Sparks resident Sheena Harvey and Reno resident Brooke Westlake were vying for the seat vacated by Adam Mayberry, who was elected to the Sparks City Council during the June primary.
What comes next
Tens of thousands of mail ballots remain to be counted. Nevada law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if received by 5 p.m. Nov. 7, according to the Nevada Independent. Results are not considered final until county commissions canvass them. That deadline falls on Friday, Nov. 13, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
