Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo takes questions from reporters after a ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 189, the Keeping Kids in School Act, at Ronnow Elementary School Thursday, July 6, 2023. The bill includes a $2 million appropriation for Communities In Schools of Nevada.
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 | 1:17 p.m.
Gov. Joe Lombardo said he plans to caucus for former President Donald Trump in the Nevada Republican Party’s closed caucuses next month, and will also vote for “none of the above” in the state-run presidential preference primary.
Republicans in Nevada have the opportunity to vote in two presidential contests: the Feb. 6 primary and the state GOP’s caucuses two days later.
The state is required by law to hold a primary if two or more candidates from a major party file to run. But the Nevada GOP has opted for the caucuses as the only means of awarding the state’s 26 delegates for the 2024 nomination — and the party passed rules allowing candidates to only participate in either the caucuses or the primary, not both.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is the most notable candidate in the GOP primary field after former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott suspended their campaigns.
A recent poll from Emerson College showed Trump with a 65 percentage point lead in the Nevada caucuses over the second-place candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
To participate in the caucuses, voters needed to have registered as a Republican by Jan. 8.
The state-run primaries are closed, meaning only party members get a ballot. But state law allows individuals to change their party registration the day of any given election.
News of Lombardo’s endorsement of Trump, the perceived frontrunner to face President Joe Biden in November’s general election, was first reported by the Nevada Independent.
A spokeswoman for Lombardo confirmed the report, and the Republican governor said in a statement he’s siding with Trump because of his record on the economy and foreign policy.
“We need President Trump’s decisive leadership back in Washington, D.C.,” Lombardo said. “President Trump oversaw record economic success, implemented strong foreign policy, and ensured our law enforcement officers are treated with the respect they deserve.”
In a statement slamming Lombardo as “spineless,”Nevada State Democratic Party spokeswoman Stephanie Justice said another Trump presidency would be disastrous for Nevada and the country.
“By supporting someone who devoted his presidency to taking away our rights and has said that he will be a ‘dictator on day one’ of his presidency, it’s becoming all the more clear that Lombardo would rather sell out Nevadans than do what is best for Nevada,” Justice said.
“Make no mistake: if Trump is sent back to the White House, Lombardo will aid him in stripping Nevadans of their hard-earned freedoms and squander economic opportunity for our families,” she said.
Trump endorsed Lombardo during his 2022 gubernatorial run. The first-term governor had previously held the office of Clark County sheriff before unseating then-Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat. Sisolak was the only incumbent Democratic governor to lose reelection during the 2022 cycle.
For Trump, it’s the latest endorsement out of Nevada, after retired U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown issued his official approval of the former president last week. Brown is running in a crowded GOP primary to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen.
Lombardo and Brown had both said previously they weren’t going to endorse a GOP hopeful during the primary.
Lombardo has also expressed frustration over the Nevada GOP’s insistence to run a caucus, telling Nevada Newsmakers in October having two contests would be “confusing” and “unacceptable.”
Lombardo told the Independent he was still determining where he would caucus.
With the primary, Lombardo can either participate in the early voting period from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, fill out a mail-in ballot or cast his vote in person on election day. He did not specify which method he would use to vote in the primary.
