New Poll: Ford Takes Lead in NV Gov Race Even After Lombardo’s “Billionaire Friends” Blew $20 Million

Ford now leads Lombardo in polling and is gaining momentum despite being outspent 10-1 and barraged with misleading attack ads

A new Emerson poll finds that Attorney General Aaron Ford now leads incumbent Joe Lombardo 44 to 42 in the race for Nevada Governor – even after Lombardo and his “billionaire friends” burned through more than $20 million on attack ads that have failed to move the needle for Lombardo.

Notable findings from the poll:

Ford leads Lombardo by 31 points among Hispanic voters, a critical voting bloc in Nevada elections.
Ford has closed the gap with Lombardo since last fall, when they were tied in a poll by Emerson. Ford is also overperforming where Lombardo was at this point in 2022 against Sisolak by four points.
As Lombardo, “explicitly align[s] himself with the president,” Trump is disapproved of by 18 points in Nevada.

“No amount of campaign cash from Trump’s billionaire friends will distract voters from the reality: under Joe Lombardo, Nevada families are paying more and struggling to find work, while Lombardo puts cheerleading for Trump over serving working families,” said Zoë Kleinfeld, Campaign Manager at Ford for Governor.“ Aaron Ford has spent his career fighting to lower costs and create good-paying union jobs. He won’t stop until Nevada is a place Nevadans can actually afford to call home – that is the choice voters face in November.”

Ford leading Lombardo despite being outspent 10:1 is a clear indicator that his aggressive focus on lowering costs and ending the Lombardo-Trump affordability crisis is resonating strongly with Nevada voters who are struggling to afford groceries, gas, health care, and housing. Meanwhile, Lombardo is focused on taking care of Trump’s “billionaire friends” who are bankrolling his campaign and jacking up Nevadans’ prices. In contrast, Ford has been laser-focused on lowering costs on day one – proposing policies to make things cost less and create good-paying jobs.

The poll caps off a summer of the Lombardo campaign flailing as the tide turns against them and making a series of increasingly desperate maneuvers to try to blunt Ford’s momentum. Lombardo’s campaign has become increasingly desperate and has stooped to pitiful new lows including launching debunked attack ads, paying workers to lie about Ford’s record, lying about campaign support, and using taxpayer dollars to attack political opponents — none of which has moved the needle in Lombardo’s favor. Meanwhile, Lombardo himself is hiding behind attack ads to dodge having to actually answer for his record of being Nevada’s biggest roadblock to affordability: in the last 300 days, he has only done one press gaggle.

Nevada’s 2026 gubernatorial race is the top Democratic flip opportunity in the country. Multiple independent polls, every special election since the 2024 general election, and the strength of our campaign all tell the same story: Governor Joe Lombardo is the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in America running for reelection, and Aaron Ford is now in the driver’s seat—and gaining momentum.

###