Per Politico, Joe Lombardo is “concerned” about having to defend his record to voters this fall. Given the disastrous state of the economy and Nevadans’ pocketbooks under his so-called “leadership”, he’s right to be worried:

• Unemployment in Nevada is among the highest in the nation. 

• The Lombardo-Trump tariffs are raising costs on working families and forcing small businesses to close. 

• Gas and energy costs are through the roof. 

• Homelessness and housing costs climbed to record highs. 

• Health care premiums are on the rise at a time when health care costs have already risen faster in Nevada than anywhere else in the nation.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Aaron Ford is speaking to the concerns of actual Nevada voters on the campaign trail. On MS Now earlier this week, he talked about putting money back in Nevadans’ pockets by guaranteeing school meals, slashing security deposits, and capping prescription drug costs.

This November, Nevada voters will face a choice between Ford’s agenda to move Nevada forward and Lombardo’s excuses for why he has Nevada stuck in the past. With public polls showing the race within the margin of error and Lombardo himself admitting he’s “not enough of a motivator” to turn out voters, it’s clear which way the winds are blowing.

LEARN MORE: 

Politico: ‘This is the new Ohio’: Why everyone’s watching the Nevada governor’s race

• Five months later, he finds himself in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Aaron Ford, the state’s attorney general, yoked to a highly unpopular president, a wobbling economy and a Middle Eastern war that has sent gas prices in the state soaring from $3.50 to $5 a gallon, among the highest in the nation.

• “Yes, I am concerned,” the governor told POLITICO in a recent sit-down interview at Starbucks in Las Vegas. “Not only because of my re-elect but because of Nevada, right?

• Stung by tariffs that have chilled travel from Canada and Mexico and an immigration crackdown that has made international visitors wary of coming to the United States, Las Vegas saw 7.5 percent fewer guests last year — the worst non-pandemic decline since the city started tracking in 1970 — a heavy blow to a state economy still so reliant on tourism. 

• Nevada’s unemployment rate remains among the highest in the nation, and the hospitality workers who form the backbone of the Las Vegas economy are seeing reduced hours, smaller tips and layoffs.

• Nevada Republicans acknowledge the governor has an unenviable task, made harder by the continuing rise of oil prices.

• Ford, like most other Democrats this cycle, is running on an affordability message, including housing costs, health care and energy prices and has sought to tie the governor directly to the president’s economic agenda. 

• He’s pointed to Nevada’s unemployment rate as evidence that Lombardo’s stewardship has fallen short. And he’s attacked Lombardo for repeatedly blocking legislation that would have limited corporate homebuying — a policy, he notes, even Trump has endorsed. 

• “Is your life better today than it was two years ago?” Ford said, asking a version of a question Democrats will be likely asking voters in 2028. “The answer is going to be absolutely no.”

MS NOW: ‘Polls Show Close Governor’s Race in Nevada’