Democrat Aaron Ford unseats GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo in Nevada

Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford has won the state’s gubernatorial race, NBC News projects, toppling Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

He will be the state’s first Black governor.

Democrats sought to make the race a referendum on Lombardo’s and President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. Ford and his allies blasted the “Lombardo-Trump economy,” with many of their attacks centered on the president’s 2025 tax cuts and spending bill, which Democrats warned would have devastating effects on poor Nevadans.

They pointed to Trump’s tariffs as a particular sore spot in a state with an economy that relies heavily on tourism. And they attacked Lombardo over an agreement with the Trump administration this summer that could help ease the pathway for more data centers on public land there.

That economic message hit hard in Nevada — a state where the rising costs of goods, gas, housing and healthcare weighed heavily on voters’ minds. Ford’s strategy was not unlike the one Lombardo employed to win the governor’s mansion in the first place, when he defeated Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in 2022 by seizing on Nevadans’ economic frustrations and framing the election as a referendum on the sitting governor and his party’s policies in Washington.

Lombardo attempted to walk a fine line on Trump in the battleground state. He appeared with Trump during a visit to Nevada this summer and celebrated policies like cutting taxes on tips. Even so, Lombardo quickly came out against some of Trump’s tariffs last year and highlighted other areas where he pushed back on Trump, including on solar power. And he sought to frame himself as doing what he could to help make life more affordable, while distancing himself from federal policies “I can’t control.”

All the while, Lombardo used his past career in law enforcement in an effort to portray Democrats as weak on crime.

But it wasn’t enough to insulate Lombardo in one of the most competitive states in the nation, where the last two governors failed to secure re-election.

The result is a boon for Democrats two years ahead of the next presidential election. Nevada was one of the states where Trump allies sought to overturn Joe Biden’s victory by preparing alternate slates of presidential electors that falsely declared Trump the winner.

Ford’s win also deals a blow to the GOP after the party’s successful gubernatorial campaign in 2022 and Trump’s 2024 victory.