Lombardo, Ford projected to run in Nevada’s Nov. 3 gubernatorial race

By Liam Hibbert
The Center Square

Nevadans voted for the two biggest names on the primary ticket Tuesday to send Democratic and Republican heavyweights to the general election on Nov. 3.

Gov. Joe Lombardo appeared to win the Republican primary election handedly as state Attorney General Aaron Ford saw some resistance from outside candidate Alexis Hill before winning the Democratic ticket. Lombardo received an overwhelming 91.26% of votes as of 10 p.m. Pacific time Tuesday.

Ford was already projected to win the Democratic primary with 66.22% of votes by 10 p.m. Tuesday. Five of the other Democratic challengers listed on the primary had received no more than 4% of votes, with Hill receiving a distant second tally of 21.14%.

Counted votes for both primaries have largely come from Washoe County, the state’s second most populous county behind Clark County. Mineral and Lincoln County had also posted results Tuesday evening.

Most counties, including Las Vegas’ Clark County, had yet to report results on the Secretary of State’s live election results page.

Neither candidate had addressed supporters shortly after the election results were posted. Lombardo and Ford did not immediately respond to requests for comment by The Center Square.

Despite the primary elections, Lombardo and Ford have largely had their sights set on the general election, trading blows over recent months.

Lombardo’s opponents have centered attacks on the governor for his relationship with President Donald Trump and economic record.

“Aaron Ford is the only candidate in this race who has the vision, the plans, and the tenacity to make that dream into a reality,” Ford campaign manager Zoe Kleinfeld said in a press release Tuesday evening. “We’re going to win this general election by building a multiracial working-class coalition united around the promise of a better future for Nevada’s working families.”

Opponents of Ford have primarily targeted his travel outside of the state.

“For someone who has spent more than 420 days out of state while in office, it’s remarkable that the trip Aaron Ford decided to skip was the one focused on bipartisan solutions to fight fraud and protect Nevada taxpayers,” a spokeswoman for Lombardo’s campaign said in a recent press release about a White House attorneys general meeting.

In the attorney general races, state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro was projected to beat current state Treasurer Zach Conine handedly for the Democratic nomination with 61.80% of votes to 34.33% at 10 p.m.

The Tuesday evening victory came with partial counting from both of the biggest counties in the state, Washoe and Clark, as both favored Cannizzaro.

The Republican attorney general’s primary saw attorney Adriana Guzman Fralick projected to beat Douglas County Commissioner Danny Tarkanian with almost two-thirds of votes at 59.89% to 34.9% at 10 p.m. Fralick had received crucial endorsements from both Lombardo and Trump ahead of the election.

For updates on races, go to www.thecentersquare.com/nevada and the Nevada Secretary of State’s website, nvsos.gov.