NEW REPORT: Lombardo Uses Vetoes to Take Care Of His “Billionaire Friends” At Nevadans’ Expense

A new report unpacks Joe Lombardo’s long record of “taking care” of his “billionaire friends” instead of Nevada families. Lombardo has raked in over $275,000 in Big Pharma cash after vetoing bills that would have reduced prescription drug costs while Nevadans’ health care costs continue to rise faster than anywhere else in the nation. After real estate mogul Robert Bigelow bankrolled Lombardo’s candidacy with $30 million in 2022, the governor vetoed legislation to lower housing costs, protect renters, and prevent Wall Street firms from pricing Nevadans out of purchasing a home. Since then, Bigelow has given Lombardo $2.72 million for his 2026 campaign.

Lombardo has also taken nearly $5 million from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta — the “largest law breakers in [state] labor law history” — and then vetoed pro-worker bills including expanded sick leave, extended paid family leave, and greater worker protections. Earlier this month, after saying that he can’t do anything to help Nevadans suffering from the Lombardo-Trump affordability crisis, Lombardo took the stage with Donald Trump and said his top priority is helping Trump’s “billionaire friends” over working Nevadans.

In contrast, Attorney General Ford has pledged to be the most pro-worker Governor in Nevada history. Ford has prioritized putting working families over Trump and his billionaire friends and has proposed policies to lower costs for Nevadans and put Workers First.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has built a reelection war chest stocked with money from mining companies, pharmaceutical firms, real estate moguls, and casino owners, and in case after case, a veto, a firing, or a favorable regulatory decision has preceded or followed a significant contribution from the interests that benefited. Here’s what the public record shows about five of Lombardo’s most prominent donor relationships.
Twice, Nevada lawmakers have passed legislation to cap prescription drug prices for all Nevadans at the rate the federal government negotiates for Medicare under the Inflation Reduction Act, and twice, Lombardo has vetoed it.
The Nevada Democratic Party has published tallies asserting the pharmaceutical industry funneled tens of thousands of dollars to Lombardo’s campaign in the aftermath of each veto
Nevada’s health care costs, meanwhile, have continued to climb.
Real estate and aerospace billionaire Robert Bigelow was Lombardo’s single biggest backer in the 2022 race, giving nearly $200,000 directly to the campaign and funneling more than $13 million combined into the Better Nevada PAC and Stronger Nevada PAC that supported him, part of almost $50 million Bigelow spent that cycle across Nevada Republican campaigns and committees.
On policy, Lombardo has vetoed legislation aimed at stabilizing rents and protecting tenants.
Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who own Station Casinos, rank among Lombardo’s largest donors; the Culinary Union’s news service described them as the governor’s “second largest donor by far.”
During the 2025 legislative session, Lombardo vetoed a slate of bills the Culinary Union says would have helped tourism-industry workers, though the union’s own materials don’t specify each bill by number or detail sick leave and paid-family-leave provisions individually, so those specifics should be treated as the union’s characterization pending confirmation against the governor’s official veto list.
Taken together, they describe a consistent shape: an industry or an individual with business before the state gives significant money to Lombardo’s campaign or the PACs supporting him, and a decision favorable to that donor, a veto, a firing, a rescinded fine, follows.

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