Sisolak vs. Lombardo 2.0? Former governor eyes 2026 bid

Former Democratic Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak is eyeing another run for governor in 2026 against Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Though U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez and other Democrats eked out a victory in what was expected to be a “red wave” in 2022, Sisolak lost his re-election bid to then-Clark County Sheriff Lombardo by 15,000 votes.

Sisolak — Nevada’s first Democratic governor in two decades — was the only Democratic governor in the country to lose a re-election bid in the midterms. Many credited his loss to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns and the economic fallout in Nevada that followed 15 months into Sisolak’s term. His response to the pandemic, including his decision to shutter businesses as the outbreak spread, became Republicans’ main campaign attacks against him.

The former governor said for months people have encouraged him to run again. He said he is weighing his options.

“People have been so supportive and so positive about it, and it’s something I’m looking at,” he told the Review-Journal on Friday.

Sisolak also said he was disappointed by the recent comments Lombardo made in regard to anti-Trump protests and said Democrats are not looking for free handouts.

“That’s just absolutely not true. They’re good, hard-working people that just want a chance. They want an opportunity,” he said.

Sisolak is looking at what will happen over the next two months in the legislative session before coming to a decision on running in 2026. He wants to see what bills are passed and vetoed by the governor and what policies are put in place, he said.

Since Sisolak left office, he helped campaign for Democrats in the 2024 election, and he joined the University of Chicago Institute of Politics as a Pritzker fellow in 2023.

Another prominent Nevada Democrat has already expressed his intent to run against Lombardo in 2026: Attorney General Aaron Ford, who has been a vocal opponent to the Trump administration and has started publicly criticizing the Republican governor over his policies.

Sisolak said he has talked with Ford, and they will both make their own decisions.

“We’ve both got families. My family’s a little older than his is,” he said. “Those are things you have to look at.”

In 2022, Ford performed better than Sisolak in their respective races.

Ford received 511,000 votes and defeated Republican Sigal Chattah by 77,000 votes in the attorney general’s race, while Sisolak received 482,000 votes.

Whoever decides to run against the Republican governor could have an uphill battle.

Lombardo has a 53 percent approval rating, according to an April 10, 2025, survey from Morning Consult, with 30 percent disapproving.

In July 2022, an Emerson College poll put Sisolak’s approval rating at 40 percent, with 48 percent disapproving.

The governor’s office declined to comment for the story, but a spokesperson for the pro-Lombardo PAC said whether it’s Sisolak or Ford, “Nevada Democrats have nothing to offer our state but failed policies and corruption.”

“Nevadans support Governor Lombardo’s common sense leadership, that’s why they’ll vote for him again in 2026,” spokesman John Burke said in a statement.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.