The 2026 Nevada gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Nevada. Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo sought re-election to a second term, but lost to Democratic attorney general Aaron Ford.
Primary elections took place on June 9, 2026. Lombardo won the Republican nomination with 91.0% of the vote. Ford won the Democratic nomination with 63.8% over Washoe commission chair Alexis Hill.
Lombardo is the second consecutive governor of Nevada to lose re-election after Steve Sisolak in 2022. Ford became Nevada's first African American governor and the first Black person elected governor of a U.S. state west of the Mississippi River.
Lombardo was one of two Republican governors to lose re-election in 2026, the other one being Greg Abbott in Texas.
Background
Nevada is considered to be a purple to slightly blue state at the federal and state levels, with neither party having control of all three branches of government. Apart from the governor, Nevada's lieutenant governor and state controller are Republicans. Nevada's attorney general, treasurer, and state secretary of state are Democrats. Donald Trump won the state in 2024, becoming the first Republican presidential nominee to win the state since 2004.
The Nevada Legislature is controlled by members of the Democratic Party, with a majority in both the state assembly and senate. The lieutenant governor, a Republican, serves as the president of the state senate but only votes in the case of a tie. At the federal level, both United States Senators and three out of four members of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada are Democrats.
With the exception of 2018, Republicans have won every gubernatorial election in the state since 1998.
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Joe Lombardo, incumbent governor (2023–present)
Eliminated in primary
- Donald J. Beaudry Jr., AI executive
- Irina Hansen, salon owner and candidate for mayor of Las Vegas in 2024
- M. Kameron Hawkins, candidate for lieutenant governor in 2022
- Matthew Winterhawk, businessman
- Jose M. Zalaya
- Barak Zilberberg, candidate for governor in 2022
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
- Aaron Ford, Nevada attorney general (2019–present)
Eliminated in primary
- Sunshine Arterburn
- Miqehl Bayfield
- Emile Bouari, businessman
- James Cooper
- Alexis Hill, Washoe County commission chair (2023–present) from the 1st district (2021–present)
Declined
- Sandra Jauregui, majority leader of the Nevada Assembly (2023–present) from the 41st district (2016–present) (running for lieutenant governor; endorsed Ford)
- Steve Yeager, speaker of the Nevada Assembly (2022–present) from the 9th district (2016–present)
Endorsements
Aaron Ford
- Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada (2017–present)
- Jacky Rosen, Nevada (2019–present)
- Steven Horsford, NV-04 (2013–2015, 2019–present)
- Susie Lee, NV-03 (2019–present)
- Dina Titus, NV-01 (2009–2011, 2013–present)
- Reuben D'Silva, AD-28 (2022–present)
- Cecelia González, AD-16 (2020–present)
- Sandra Jauregui, majority leader of the Nevada Assembly from AD-41 (2016–present)
- Daniele Monroe-Moreno, speaker pro tempore of the Nevada Assembly (2023–present) from AD-01 (2016–present) and chair of the Nevada Democratic Party (2023–present)
- David Orentlicher, AD-20 (2020–present)
- Selena Torres, AD-03 (2019–present)
- Fabian Doñate, SD-10 (2021–present)
- Nevada State Education Association
- Washoe Education Association
- End Citizens United
- Giffords
- Nevada Conservation League
- Reproductive Freedom for All
- Jewish Democratic Council of America
Alexis Hill
Independent candidates
Candidates
- Danielle Ford, member of the Nevada State Board of Education
Did not qualify for ballot
- Christopher Battenberg
- Max Beck, Lyon county deputy sheriff
- Jordan Koteras
- Allen Rheinhart, perennial candidate
- Emilio R. Rodriguez
- John T. Scott
General election
Post-primary endorsements
Joe Lombardo (R)
Aaron Ford (D)
Polling
Aggregate polls
Analysis
Ford's election marked the largest Democrat vote share since 1994, amid an election cycle that was described as the biggest blue wave in the state since 1974, with Democrats winning every statewide office on ballot. Latino voters, which are a significant percentage of Nevada’s electorate, showed up in greater numbers than in the presidential election, while Democrats erased Republican gains in this demographic. Democrats also erased Republican gains amongst young voters.