Nevada has spent decades building something many states have managed to destroy; a business climate where entrepreneurs can still take a risk, employers can create jobs and government does not automatically consider success something that needs to be taxed, regulated or redistributed.
That makes the 2026 governor’s race pretty simple from where I sit. Governor Joe Lombardo has a record. Attorney General Aaron Ford has promises… and an attendance problem.
Under Lombardo, Nevada has added approximately 100,000 jobs since he took office, attracted more than $6 billion in private investment and eliminated or streamlined more than 900 state regulations. His administration reduced the Modified Business Tax rate, lowered unemployment-insurance costs for employers and vetoed proposed tax increases. Folks, those are not campaign slogans. Those are business results.
Lombardo also understands something politicians sometimes forget, government doesn’t create prosperity, businesses and working people do. Government’s job is to create the environment where they can succeed… then try to stay out of their way. That philosophy could change dramatically under Aaron Ford.
Lombardo will protect right-to-work. Ford wants it gone. Enough said.
Ford has also pledged to become Nevada’s most pro-labor governor, emphasizing expanded union power, collective bargaining, prevailing-wage protections and project labor agreements. Organized labor certainly has every right to advocate for its members. But a governor represents everybody, including the thousands of Nevada businesses that sign the front of the paycheck. That’s the difference.
Lombardo approaches economic policy asking, “How do we help Nevada businesses grow?” Ford’s philosophy too often appears to ask, “How much more can government require them to do?”
Public safety matters to business, too. Tourists don’t visit places where they feel unsafe. Companies don’t relocate where employees don’t want to live. Lombardo’s law-enforcement background and emphasis on accountability therefore aren’t separate from economic development, they are an integral part of it.
Education is equally important. Nevada employers need qualified workers, not another generation of excuses. Lombardo has pushed accountability, workforce development and greater educational options because businesses ultimately pay the price when schools fail to prepare students.
And Nevada’s business community isn’t alone in noticing. The Vegas Chamber, Henderson Chamber’s IMPAC, Latin Chamber of Commerce and Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce have endorsed Lombardo. So have the Clark County Education Association, Laborers and a remarkable coalition of law-enforcement organizations, including the LVPPA, Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, Public Safety Alliance of Nevada, Nevada Police Union, and police and sheriff associations throughout the state. Business, labor, teachers and cops don’t agree on everything… but apparently, a whole lot of them agree on Lombardo.
Yet this election is frighteningly close. A September Emerson poll had Ford at 44 percent and Lombardo at 42 percent, statistically a toss-up. More telling, 43 percent of Nevada voters said the economy was their number-one issue.
CALL TO ACTION: Nevadans need to forget political theater and look at the balance sheet. Ask which candidate has actually reduced business taxes, cut regulations, attracted investment, created jobs and defended Nevada’s right-to-work advantage. Lombardo has. Ford wants the job and is the voice of a detached political elite.
Regarding Nevada’s other elections, forget the party labels and campaign promises. Look for candidates who will protect free enterprise, individual liberty, public safety, parental rights, limited government and Nevada’s right-to-work tradition—and who respect the people who work, build, invest and create the jobs that keep this state moving. Vote your principles, demand results and remember: Nevada prospers when government serves the people… not when the people serve government.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Originally Published
https://nevadabusiness.com/2026/10/dont-gamble-with-nevadas-economy/
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