Republican governor targeted by Democrats launches re-election bid in key battleground

Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo of Nevada on Monday kicked off his 2026 re-election campaign in the crucial western battleground state.

Lombardo, the only challenger to defeat an incumbent governor in the 2022 elections as he edged out Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, made Nevada the only blue-to-red governor flip that year.

Fast-forward four years and Lombardo, the former sheriff of Las Vegas anchored Clark County, is certain to face a bruising re-election, and is widely considered to be the most at-risk GOP governor seeking another term.

Lombardo warned of the risks ahead if the Democrats retake the governor’s office. And he said he’s the backstop against what he described as the “woke, California agenda” from Nevada’s bigger neighbor to the west.

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“I’ll continue to do everything in my power to stop Gavin Newson from imposing his left-wing agenda on Nevada. As long as I’m your governor, I won’t ever accept Californians telling Nevadans what to do or making us pay the price for their bad ideas,” Lombardo said, according to an excerpt shared with Fox News Digital ahead of delivery.

Lombardo, speaking at Rancho High School in North Las Vegas, where he graduated and launched his first campaign for governor four years ago, also spotlighted his accomplishments while emphasizing the “unfinished business” to secure Nevada’s future.

The governor touted cutting over 600 regulations during his tenure steering the state, and said Nevada has experienced 4% annual job growth since 2022, which he touted made it the sixth-fastest state in the nation for employment growth.

Lombardo also pointed to delivering the single largest education investment in state history, signing into law a school choice expansion bill, a double-digit raise for law enforcement, and allocating $130 million for middle class housing.

“Nobody fights harder for the Nevada Way than Gov. Joe Lombardo. In just one term, Gov. Lombardo transformed Nevada’s business climate into a national powerhouse, provided accountability in education for parents and students, and fought to keep families safe,” Republican Governors Association  communications director Courtney Alexander said in a statement.

But the rival Democratic Governors Association (DGA), which called Lombardo “the most vulnerable Republican governor in America,” pointed ahead of his announcement to what it called his “failed record.”

The DGA argued that Lombardo “twists himself into knots trying to defend his disastrous agenda that has left Nevada’s working families and small businesses behind.”

The Nevada Democratic Party tied Lombardo to President Donald Trump, slamming the governor for what they charged was his “embrace of Trump’s reckless policies, all of which have led to worst-in-the-nation unemployment rates, a growing housing crisis, and sky-high costs.”

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford and Reno-anchored Washoe County commissioner Alexis Hill have both launched campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.