There are still a few months until the General Election in November.
The Nevada Governor’s race between incumbent Joe Lombardo and democratic nominee Attorney General Aaron Ford is set to be one of the most competitive across the entire country.
On Wednesday, Ford sat down with 2 News Nevada to unveil his ‘worker-first economic’ agenda.
"What I’m looking to do is return Nevada to the place that it used to be,” Ford said. “Where it was able to build a comfortable middle class life with good paying jobs and an opportunity to see your children do better than you were able to do.”
One of the first ways Ford wants to accomplish this, is by repealing the ‘right to work’ law in the state.
"These types of laws have always been anti-worker laws that suppress the opportunity for workers to be able to earn more, to bargain for more, for better pay, but also, better working conditions," he said.
The law essentially means if there’s a union at a job, workers are not required to join, pay dues, or be fired if they join a union.
Some supporters of repealing the law believe it undermines unions, and limits its negotiation power. Opponents believe it allows for rights and freedom.
The law has been in-effect since 1953. 26 states have this law.
Another component of the agenda is allowing workers to have a seat at the table when it comes to discussion on artificial intelligence.
"I think AI to be sure is here to stay, but it is also something that should be benefiting everyone,” he said. “And we should be careful not to have it displace jobs."
All over the state, and really the country, data centers have been a contentious topic.
Ford says things will need to change in regard to regulations.
"We're going to have to ensure that any data center that operates here is utilizing something other than water to cool its systems, that it is, also building out the grid, the electrical grid, in a way that doesn't burden our residential or even and frankly, other commercial consumers,” he said.
Ford also wants to make sure that Nevada students don’t leave to work elsewhere across the country.
"I'm going to encourage our best and brightest to contribute their talents here at home because our biggest export, frankly, shouldn't be our children," Ford said.
The attorney general says the economy is his biggest focus for his gubernatorial campaign.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when touring numbers plummeted, the state saw how reliant it was on that sector for its economy.
"The fact is, the fact that when the country gets the cold, we do more than get the flu, we get pneumonia," Ford said.
Other than gaming and tourism, Ford wants to look at other ways to diversify the economy.
"One of the things that we should look at is advocating for a financial district,” he said. “We're one of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation without a financial district. I've already been in conversation with folks, both local and national folks, who are interested in exploring opportunities to bring a financial district to our state."
Which a financial district, is essentially a collection of financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies.
He specifically, wants to build it down in Las Vegas.
In the Nevada Legislature, both in the 2025 regular session and special session, a film tax credits bill was looking to give Howard Hughes, Warner Bros. Discover and Sony Pictures Entertainment $1.8 billion in transferable tax credits.
It failed in both sessions.
I asked Ford if he would consider still bringing the studios down south.
“My general premise has always been we need to explore every opportunity of a conversation in order to, number one, bring good paying jobs to our state,” he said. “We have to look responsibly, though, and ensure that you're not giving away, the store, so to speak, or giving way the state as you bring these incentives in."
Another focus Ford wants is to make the silver state a leader in innovative technology practices.
"We're going to make Nevada a global leader in clean energy opportunities and to create jobs in order to boost opportunities."
Lombardo’s campaign sent us a statement.
“While Aaron Ford is once again jet-setting across the globe, Governor Lombardo remains focused on delivering results here at home by fighting against California’s high gas prices, working with our bipartisan delegation to release more land for attainable housing, and lowering costs for all Nevada families…”
“Under Governor Lombardo’s leadership, Nevada has led the nation in job growth for 11 consecutive months, employment has grown 1.8% year-over-year, we’ve reached a record 1.6 million jobs, generated over $6 billion in new investment, and created nearly 100,000 jobs. However, his work isn’t finished yet, and Governor Lombardo will continue his fight for a stronger, more affordable Nevada for all.”
We did ask Ford about the “420 days not working” claim that Better Nevada Political Action Committee, who supports Lombardo, has put in a recent political advertisement.
"A recent report has uncovered that he is running commercials with false information, including that piece of information,” Ford said citing this KTNV story. “He's paying individuals to lie about my record because he cannot focus on and talk about the truth of the matter and that is our economy is failing under this Lombardo-Trump economy."
Ford’s campaign also released his full agenda.
The General Election is November 3.
