Politico: AG Ford Leans on His Working-Class Roots in Nevada Governor’s Race

“Ford has amassed widespread support from many of Nevada’s labor union leadership, bringing in endorsements from the powerful Culinary Union, many of the trades associations, and prompting the Retail Association to switch its past endorsement of Lombardo in his favor”

New reporting by POLITICO highlights Attorney General Aaron Ford’s growing momentum heading into Election Day with widespread support from Nevada’s labor unions. While Lombardo jacks up the cost of everything from gas to groceries, Ford is laser-focused on putting money back in working families’ pockets including expanding union apprenticeship programs and repealing Nevada’s “right to work for less” law.

Attorney General Ford’s story of having to eat stale candy bars for dinner and struggling to afford groceries is all too common in the Lombardo-Trump economy. With just nine days until Election Day, Nevadans have the opportunity to elect a fighter for working families and boot Trump’s doormat out of office.

Then a visitor stepped onto the line to join them: Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. A native of Dallas, Ford, 54, has set his sights on becoming the next governor of Nevada and he was here to prove he had the backs of the roughly 60 welders, machine operators and truck drivers — and that Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo did not.
As Democrats search for working-class whisperers — in hopes of wooing blue collar voters who’d flipped for President Donald Trump — some hope they have found one in Ford: a Black, Spanish-speaking wonk with five degrees who grew up as a low-income kid sometimes lacking food on the table or electricity in his house.
Those hard times might be long behind him, but Ford, the first African American to hold statewide constitutional office in Nevada, wanted those walking the line to know that he, too, knew the struggle.
“As hard as you’re working, I’m working to try to ensure that I can be in this office to help you as well,” he told the two dozen workers striking for better pay and to preserve their union healthcare and pension benefits.
Like the long line of Democrats before him, Ford has amassed widespread support from many of Nevada’s labor union leadership, bringing in endorsements from the powerful Culinary Union, many of the trades associations, and prompting the Retail Association to switch its past endorsement of Lombardo in his favor.
During the campaign [Ford] has called for repealing Nevada’s right-to-work law, expanding union apprenticeship programs and building more affordable housing.
“This affordability thing. That’s the word of the day,” Ford said. “But I like to remind folks that before I knew what affordability meant, I knew my parents couldn’t afford food at the age of nine.”
As attorney general, Ford sued drug makers and secured $1.2 billion to address the opioid crisis. He challenged social media companies for enticing young users to obsessively use their platforms. He tried — and failed — to build a credible criminal case against Republicans who falsely claimed to be presidential electors for Trump. A judge, in dismissing the case, said the prosecution failed to present evidence demonstrating “the requisite intent to defraud.”

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