Lombardo wins Nevada governor’s race, ousting incumbent Sisolak

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, R, will be the next governor of Nevada. Lombardo defeated incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak, D, in a tight race. 

Gov. Sisolak flipped the seat in 2018. He served on the Nevada Board of Regents and then as the chairman of the Clark County Commission. His win as governor gave Democrats control of the assembly, Senate and governor’s mansion in Nevada for the first time since 1992.

Sheriff Lombardo has a history of service. He served in the Army, National Guard and Army Reserve. Lombardo spent 26 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department before being elected Clark County sheriff in 2014.

But while the candidates were opponents in this race, they stood side by side in the wake of the Las Vegas mass shooting. The massacre in October 2017 left 60 people dead and more than 850 wounded. Together, they helped carry Clark County through the tragedy in part by starting a fund for victims that raised millions of dollars.

In the lead up to the election, crime had been a great concern to voters around the country. Polls showed that for the most part, voters trusted Republicans to better handle the issue. In Nevada, however, Gov. Sisolak’s team tried to turn that around on Sheriff Lombardo, saying crime rose in Clark County under his watch. Lombardo admitted crime increased over the last two years but said he did all he could with the funding and mandates he received from a Democrat-controlled legislature.

Lombardo, meanwhile, attacked Gov. Sisolak for the state hiring a coronavirus testing company based in Chicago that missed 96% of the positive cases from the University of Nevada in Reno. Sisolak defended fast-tracking the contract and said the company was licensed by the federal government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.