There are many states in America where a governor shares the ticket with his or her running mate. Nevada is not one of them.<\/p>\n
That, however, is but a small detail.<\/p>\n
Joe Lombardo, Nevada\u2019s Republican governor<\/a>, is seeking election to his second term. His chief opponent is Aaron Ford, Nevada\u2019s Democratic attorney general.<\/p>\n But to hear Lombardo and his allies tell it, Ford\u2019s guru, his doppelganger, his soulmate and political inspiration \u2014 if not his actual running mate \u2014 is the Democratic governor living next door. It\u2019s almost as if Lombardo is facing Gavin Newsom<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n Look, there, along the streets of Las Vegas, you\u2019ll see California\u2019s governor on billboards<\/a>, grinning alongside Ford.<\/p>\n Stop at the gas pump, wince at the pain<\/a> and ask yourself why? It\u2019s not President Trump and the muddle-headed war he started<\/a> over in Iran. Blame Newsom.<\/p>\n Higher taxes and more spending? Only if Newsom, er, Ford, has his way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s official,\u201d a chirpy announcer says in one pro-Lombardo campaign spot. \u201cShared vision. Shared values. Aaron Ford: Gavin Newsom\u2019s choice for Nevada.\u201d<\/p>\n You’re reading the L.A. Times Politics newsletter <\/p>\n Expert columnists cover the insights, legislation, players and politics you need to know. <\/p>\n By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n Lombardo seemed, for a time, the most politically vulnerable Republican governor in the country. Things have looked up. He\u2019s built a big financial advantage over Ford. But anti-Trump sentiments <\/a>are keeping the Democrat in contention, which is what happens when an incumbent is running shackled to a ball and chain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Enter Newsom.<\/p>\n A familiar playbook<\/p>\n It\u2019s not at all surprising he would endorse a member of his own party, especially in Nevada, which is holding one of the first contests<\/a> of the 2028 presidential race. Newsom, if you haven\u2019t heard, has been positioning himself for a potential White House bid <\/a>for years. Backing Ford is a way of collecting chits, as they say in gambling and politics.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also not surprising that Lombardo would try to deflect from the unpopular Trump by yoking his opponent to Newsom. Select a polarizing member of the opposite party and suggest your rival is their slavish devotee; it\u2019s a strategy as well-thumbed as a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas road atlas. (Google it, kids.) <\/p>\n In Nevada, the attack can have added resonance when the offending politician is from California, which has long been viewed, by some at least, as an overpriced, tax-happy<\/a>, left-wing lunatic asylum.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a tendency in Nevada to worry about what\u2019s called \u2018Californication\u2019 and this has gone on quite a while,\u201d said Michael Green, a historian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who suggested it\u2019s a particular slice of California, not the moderately conservative Central Valley but rather outr\u00e9 San Francisco, that Lombard is trying to convey.<\/p>\n For the governor, Newsom-bashing is a return to form. <\/p>\n Four years ago, as the sheriff of Clark County \u2014 that\u2019s Las Vegas \u2014 Lombardo said the Democratic incumbent, Steve Sisolak<\/a>, cared \u201cmore about copying Gavin Newsom than governing in the best interest of Nevadans.\u201d <\/p>\n This time, Lombardo has focused on high fuel prices, a particular torment in a vast state with a lot of long, gas-guzzling stretches of rural highway<\/a>. In March, he sent an open letter to Newsom blaming California\u2019s environmental policies for running up energy costs. (Nevada relies on California for nearly 90% of its transportation fuels, which mainly flow from Southern California refineries to Las Vegas.)<\/p>\n In April, he explicitly blamed \u201cGavin Newsom\u2019s energy policies\u201d for \u201cdriving higher gas prices for Nevada families\u201d and said Ford refused to push back because \u201che doesn\u2019t want to risk his relationship with his biggest ally.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom vs. Lombardo<\/p>\n Turnabout being fair play, the Ford campaign has responded by tying Nevada\u2019s governor to the unpopular president.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe Lombardo is endorsed by Donald Trump and is running on a platform of raising costs and is laser-focused on taking care of Trump\u2019s billionaire friends and padding the pockets of greedy corporations,\u201d said spokesperson Tai Sims, who suggested the governor was relying on a \u201cfailed MAGA playbook\u201d because \u201che\u2019s too busy embracing Trump\u2019s cost-raising agenda to acknowledge the economic pain<\/a> caused by the Lombardo-Trump economy.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom and Lombardo have also gone at it.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I took office, Nevada has created more jobs than California,\u201d Lombardo boasted in a July posting on X that, of course, tied Ford to Newsom. \u201cAs Governor, I\u2019ll never let Nevada become an extension of California\u2019s failed agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFALSE!\u201d Newsom\u2019s press team replied, with a Pinnochio-nosed emoji and a link to Federal Reserve data. \u201cUsing the same official jobs measure your office cites, California added about 340,900 jobs from December 2022 through June 2026. Nevada added 100,800.\u201d<\/p>\n Lombardo hasn\u2019t just focused on economics. Playing on old animosities, he told a Jewish Republican audience in Las Vegas last month that a certain California governor \u201cwanted to pass two holidays for the Muslim community, agnostic to the Jewish community.\u201d (Legislation that would add Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to the list of state holidays<\/a> is on Newsom\u2019s desk, for him to sign or veto.)<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not going to happen in the state of Nevada,\u201d Lombardo said to applause, and so much for appealing to the better angels of our nature.<\/p>\n In the end, will the forced marriage of Newsom and Ford matter? <\/p>\n Probably not a whole lot. There are doubtless many things that matter more<\/a> to your typical Nevadan than whether California\u2019s governor hearts the state\u2019s attorney general.<\/p>\n Wait until 2028. If Newsom is on the ballot<\/a>, then we\u2019ll find out what Nevada truly thinks of its next-door neighbor.<\/p>\n What else you should be reading<\/p>\n Get smart: Questions swirl over Trump\u2019s pledge to give $5,000 payouts if GOP wins<\/a>
The deep dive: Will the economy motivate voters? This Central Valley swing district could be a test<\/a>
The L.A. Times Special:California provides tax breaks to Hollywood. Why not struggling news outlets?<\/a>
Until next time,
mzb
\u2014
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