Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo speaks at a news conference on June 16, 2020, in Las Vegas. (Photo: John Locher/AP, file)
By Michelle L. Price Associated Press
Monday, May 24, 2021
LAS VEGAS — Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo confirmed Monday that he will run for governor of Nevada next year in an attempt to take on Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak.
The Republican said, "Yes, I am," when asked by KRNV-TV in Reno on Monday whether he's running for governor.
He will first face North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee, who announced his campaign last week, in a Republican primary.
Lombardo had already brought on advisers and a campaign chair for what was considered a likely run but had not made an announcement.
The sheriff was in Reno for a charity event related to Washoe County Sheriff's Office and said he was in Northern Nevada so people can get to know him ahead of the statewide campaign.
"I'm well known in the south but I've got to be well-known in the north too, right?" the sheriff said.
Northern Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei, a Republican, said last week that he's still weighing whether to run for governor and did not have a timeline for when he might make a decision.
Candidates' declaration forms are not filed until early next year. But typically, they would start fundraising this year or earlier if they are planning a campaign.
Sisolak was elected in 2018 by 4 percentage points, becoming the first Democratic governor in the political swing state in two decades.
Lombardo is an elected official who oversees some 5,000 officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the state's largest force.
He started with the department in 1988 as an officer.
He was promoted up through the ranks for 26 years, including becoming an assistant sheriff in 2011, before he retired as a commissioned officer. He was elected in 2014 as sheriff and reelected in 2018.
He was overseeing the department as it fell under national spotlight during the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip when a gunman in a casino hotel tower opened fire on a music festival. The gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others.
It was deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Las Vegas police and the FBI found that the gunman who killed himself before police burst into his room had meticulously planned the attack and acted alone. They theorized that he sought notoriety but said they never determined a clear motive for the attack.
Sisolak, who at the time of the shooting was serving as chair of the Clark County Commission governing the Las Vegas Strip, became a visible figure alongside Lombardo in the wake of the attack.
Hours after the shooting, the men teamed up to launch an online fundraising effort for victims that quickly collected more than $10 million in donations.
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