With Election Day arriving on Tuesday, Northern Nevada voters are weighing four marquee contests. From a gubernatorial showdown to a battle over election administration, the choices on the ballot carry heavy stakes for the state's economy, public education, and court system.
Governor’s Race Tests Independent Brand Against State Challenges
Nevada’s marquee race pits Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo against Democrat Attorney General Aaron Ford in a toss-up. Polling illustrates the volatility of the race: an Emerson College survey showed Ford leading 44% to 42%, while a Noble Predictive Insights poll found Lombardo leading 42% to 40%. President Trump’s popularity within Nevada sits at a low point, with a Newsweek poll indicating his net approval rests at minus 24 points. Yet Lombardo has successfully maintained a political identity separate from Trump, a reality that Nevada Democrats privately admit and grudgingly concede, as Politico’s Megan Messerly has observed. If Lombardo loses against Ford, it likely means the GOP is facing severe losses across the country.
Lombardo enters the final stretch pointing to his record on jobs and education. In 2023, he played a central role in shaping a historic $2.6 billion increase in K-12 school funding paired with strict accountability measures. He collaborated with the Clark County Education Association—Nevada’s largest teachers’ union—to boost teacher pay and ease student discipline rules, earning the union’s endorsement for re-election. On the economic front, Nevada led the nation in job growth for 11 consecutive months, with Lombardo overseeing the creation of 106,000 new jobs. Crime remains an area of distinct advantage for the incumbent; the Noble poll reveals that Nevada voters trust Lombardo over Ford by 12 points on public safety.
Ford counters by promising to declare an “affordability emergency” to lower consumer prices, though critics question a governor’s unilateral tools to drive down costs. Ford also supports ending right-to-work in Nevada, where today, no Nevadan can be forced to pay a union just to keep a job. Meanwhile, Lombardo has positioned himself as a check on progressive overreach in the Legislature, issuing 162 vetoes in his first term while maintaining a strict no-tax-hikes policy. He also qualified Question 7, the voter ID measure, for the ballot after legislative Democrats refused to hear it. In 2024, Question 7 passed in a landslide across party lines with 73.2% approving.
Attorney General and Secretary of State Rematches Shape the Legal and Electoral Field
The race for attorney general features Republican Adriana Guzman Fralick and Democratic State Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro. Both candidates share deep academic roots in the state system, holding undergraduate degrees from UNR and law degrees from UNLV. Guzman Fralick, who was born in Mexico and emigrated to Nevada at age 9, grew up in Sparks, is bilingual, and operates her own law firm in Reno. She brings 23 years of legal practice, including service as counsel to Gov. Jim Gibbons, the Commission on Ethics, and the Public Utilities Commission, and chaired the Cannabis Compliance Board. Lombardo endorsed Fralick, calling her “uniquely qualified.”
Cannizzaro, born in Las Vegas, works for personal injury lawyer Richard Harris and previously served as a prosecutor in the Clark County DA’s office. Having secured her initial state Senate victory in 2016 followed by successful re-election bids in 2020 and 2024, she serves as the state’s initial female Senate majority leader while staunchly defending abortion rights. On policy, the candidates diverge sharply: Cannizzaro opposes the death penalty and Question 7, while Fralick supports capital punishment for the worst crimes and backs voter ID.
Further down the ballot, Democrat Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and Republican Jim Marchant are locked in a rematch of their 2022 contest. Aguilar defends the dramatic changes made by legislative Democrats in 2020 on how Nevada conducts elections and opposes voter ID. Marchant identifies as an election denier and alleges that every Nevada election since 2006 has been manipulated and fraudulently administered by a hidden deep state network; his proposed agenda mandates voter reregistration for all residents, the elimination of electronic voting equipment, and a return to paper ballots exclusively. Marchant has little money and lacks support from major Republicans. Aguilar reported over $1 million in his campaign and Marchant $14. Throughout the Republican primary contest, Lombardo threw his support behind business proprietor and attorney Shirley Folkins-Roberts—who campaigned on sensible voting updates such as requiring identification—while choosing to withhold his backing from Marchant.
Congressional District 2 Contest Draws Scrutiny Over Military Record and Finances
In Northern Nevada’s congressional races, Republican nominee David Flippo faces heavy scrutiny in his bid. Flippo is a far-right accused “carpetbagger” from Las Vegas with no ties to the district. The Washington Post uncovered that Flippo repeatedly fabricated aspects of his military background over recent years by falsely asserting he earned a Bronze Star “for valor,” going so far as to wear a cap bearing two “V” for valor devices. Flippo loaned his campaign $1.8 million this year but has failed to submit required financial filings with the U.S. House that describe where his money comes from—more than five months after this year’s deadline.
Flippo’s past military and professional leadership has also been challenged by former colleagues. Citing a breakdown in trust regarding his leadership capabilities, his former Republican squadron commander confirmed that he dismissed Flippo from his maintenance command post in 2008. Financial firm First Command terminated Flippo in late 2024, accusing him of “willful misrepresentations.” Retiring GOP Rep. Mark Amodei told the Post that Flippo is a fraud and that he is voting for conservative Lynn Chapman, nominee of the Independent American Party. Flippo faces Democratic opponent Teresa Benitez-Thompson, a former Assembly majority leader representing Reno and rooted in the district.
With Nevada’s largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, endorsing Lombardo for governor, Fralick for attorney general, and Aguilar for secretary of state, voters face starkly different visions for the state’s governance as polling places prepare to open.
