The contest to become Nevada’s next governor has been heating up in recent weeks, with campaigns for Gov. Joe Lombardo and Attorney General Aaron Ford trading accusations of misrepresenting endorsements.
The latest controversy bubbled up over the weekend after Lombardo’s campaign and the Las Vegas Police Protective Association chastised Ford for including a member of the prominent union on a TV spot backing his campaign despite the governor having the group’s endorsement.
Meanwhile, Lombardo’s team is accused of listing a Ford supporter last month in a “Democrats for Joe” list.
Ford’s commercial featured statements from a number of law enforcement officers edited to suggest they were defending the Democratic attorney general against political attacks from Lombardo and his supporters over out-of-state travel he has repeatedly defended as necessary for work.
Retired Metropolitan Police Department detective Dave Kallas, who was included in the 30-second ad saying, “Don’t believe the attacks,” recorded a video for Lombardo’s campaign after Ford’s ad aired.
Kallas noted that his line had been filmed years ago when the LVPPA endorsed Ford for attorney general.
“He’s using footage from his 2018 attorney general campaign to make it look like I endorsed him for governor,” Kallas said. “That’s simply not true.”
He added, “Aaron Ford knows that, yet he’s chosen to reuse it to give voters the false impression that he has my support today.”
Ford’s campaign told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday that the commercial, which began running last week, had been re-edited.
“Attorney General Ford is proud to have earned the support of law enforcement in both past and present campaigns, and we’ve updated our ad to more clearly reflect that,” spokesperson Prerna Jagadeesh said in a statement. “This is another desperate attempt by Joe Lombardo to distract voters from his record of raising costs and being a doormat for Donald Trump as they run Nevada’s economy into the ground.”
The LVPPA and Kallas sent Ford cease-and-desist letters Monday and Tuesday, demanding that his campaign not use the retired detective or the union’s logo, or imply that the union is backing his campaign.
“Your poor judgment underscores why we chose to support Governor Lombardo’s re-election campaign,” LVPPA President Steve Grammas wrote.
Lombardo, a Republican, criticized Ford on X.
“Aaron Ford knows he would not receive the support from law enforcement due to his soft-on-crime track record so he desperately decided to recycle old footage instead,” he wrote.
‘Democrats for Joe’ scrutinized
The criticism over endorsements goes both ways.
Ford’s campaign last month highlighted Carlos Campbell-Perez, whose name had appeared on a “Democrats for Joe” endorsement list promoted by the Lombardo campaign, even though the man had just written an op-ed in a Spanish-language publication endorsing the attorney general for governor.
The campaign promoted a video of the Democrat reiterating his support for Ford. Lombardo’s campaign argued that he had signed on to the list. Campbell-Perez alleged he was misled into signing.
“Democrats for Joe” includes more than 120 Democrats who support the governor’s re-election, including former Clark County commissioners Mary Beth Scow and Susan Brager.
“The Lombardo campaign took advantage of me doing a favor for a friend, without understanding or agreeing to that being an endorsement of Lombardo,” he wrote. “When I saw my name listed on their website without my permission, I felt a responsibility to clear the record once and for all, which is why I made a video reiterating my support of (Attorney) General Ford,” he added.
Campbell-Perez’s name no longer appears on the list on Lombardo’s campaign website.
Police unions react
Lombardo’s campaign said Saturday that the LVPPA and the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers had not authorized Ford to use their logos or members’ images in 2026.
“As a result, multiple law enforcement organizations have issued cease-and-desist letters demanding the advertisement be removed,” the campaign wrote.
Of the two affected unions, only the LVPPA sent a letter.
“From our perspective, you were either trying to mislead the public or were reckless in producing the video,” Grammas wrote. “Either way, we demand that you not use this video and issue a public apology to our members.”
Grammas said the union had directed its legal team to “evaluate our options.” Kallas also threatened possible legal action if he’s not removed from the commercial. Ford’s campaign did not comment on the letters.
NAPSO represents about two dozen law enforcement agencies in Nevada.
Executive Director Andrew Regenbaum told the Review-Journal on Tuesday that NAPSO members had appeared on the ad and that he wants Ford to take down the commercial.
While NAPSO endorsed Ford for his attorney general election and re-election campaigns, he said, the group has not proclaimed support for either candidate for governor.
Regenbaum said an endorsement is possible after Ford and Lombardo participate in candidate interviews with the group this week. He added that the commercial had been distressing to the process.
NAPSO had not communicated its concerns with the ad with Ford, but he said he plans to during his interview, Regenbaum said.
Asked why NAPSO had not issued a cease-and-desist letter, Regenbaum said: “We don’t have time for that kind of nonsense.”
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
