AMAC Exclusive – By Neil Banerji
Five months into his first term, Nevada Republican Governor Joe Lombardo is advancing a conservative agenda that could prove a successful blueprint for other GOP hopefuls throughout the country in 2024.
Lombardo won election in the fall of 2022 by championing a platform that blended traditional conservative principles with a keen focus on local issues. Despite facing a Democrat-controlled House and Senate, Lombardo, a former sheriff, has managed a few notable victories while also advancing a strong argument for expanded Republican control in a politically purple state.
Soon after taking office, Lombardo proposed a series of tax cuts for businesses and the suspension of the gas tax for a year, pledging to deliver relief to Nevada residents without cutting any critical government programs. Although state Democrats predictably shot down most of his proposals, Lombardo was able to establish early a stark contrast between Democrat tax-and-spend policies – which had been the norm under his predecessor, Steve Sisolak – and his vision for reducing the size and scope of the state government to deliver savings to taxpayers.
During his first state of the state address, Lombardo also staked his claim as Nevada’s “education governor,” following in the mold of Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, another successful Republican governor in a divided state government. In the immediate wake of COVID-19 school lockdowns and amid widespread concern over the decline of the American education system, Lombardo has called for expanded school choice alongside more investment in teacher recruitment and training.
One of his initiatives, governor’s Bill 400, provides for an increase in tax credits to businesses that donate to scholarship organizations. This expansion would allow low-income students to attend a private school of their choice using state resources, expanding tax credit scholarships to $50 million, or five percent of the state’s education budget.
Another legislative proposal which Lombardo backs, Assembly Bill 330, would address the alarming rise of violence in schools in recent years. After Sisolak’s “restorative justice” policies effectively hamstrung schools from punishing student violence, Assembly Bill 330 grants teachers and school authorities more discretion regarding the handling of student discipline.
Meanwhile, Lombardo has called for a significant increase in per-pupil funding in Nevada’s schools – a plan that has even won the backing of Nevada’s largest teachers union, signaling its bipartisan appeal.
As a former sheriff, Lombardo has also taken steps to crack down on crime – a major theme of his campaign. His Crime Reduction Act aims to deter would-be offenders by permitting police departments to pursue harsher punishments for particular crimes, including the abuse and sale of fentanyl. Sheriffs across the state have offered a letter in support of the measure, as well as a criticism of Sisolak’s leniency toward criminals.
Election integrity is another topic of discussion that Lombardo has not shied away from. His proposed reforms involve streamlining the local election process and determining the results of particularly close races more quickly by requiring that mail-in-ballots be delivered by Election Day.
Lombardo has also advanced a new bill that will ensure a more transparent electoral process by limiting ballot harvesting and mandating strict voter ID requirements. Although the Democrat legislature is unlikely to pass this legislation, Lombardo’s common-sense reforms have created a clear contrast for voters and underscored the need for more election security measures.
Picking up on a successful policy of former President Donald Trump, Lombardo has made energy independence another focus of his administration, promising to end Nevada’s reliance on neighboring states like California. His energy plan, released in late March as an executive order, prioritizes investing in a diverse array of energy sources, including renewables like wind and solar along with more traditional forms of energy like natural gas.
“With California retiring its units and changing its transmission rules, we have no choice but to reduce our reliance on the market and seek energy independence for all Nevadans,” Lombardo said in a public address. “To address this, I will issue an executive order that allows electric providers to develop dedicated in-state generation resources to ensure that we are no longer forced to rely on the broader electric market.”
In the most recent state-level poll, conducted in February, 45 percent of respondents approved of Lombardo’s performance, while just 28 percent disapproved. 56 percent said Nevada was on the right track, up from 46 percent last July under Sisolak. Notably, several of Lombardo’s policy proposals, including Voter ID and a number of education policies, enjoyed broad support, even among Democrats.
Those early results are an encouraging sign for the Lombardo administration that other Republican hopefuls in the Silver State and throughout the country should pay attention to. On a day with several high-profile disappointments for Republicans in gubernatorial contests last November, Lombardo won a hotly contested race and has since gone on to become a popular governor in a battleground state – no easy feat in America’s sharply divided political climate.
That alone makes Lombardo an example worth following.
Neil Banerji is a proud Las Vegas resident and former student at the University of Oxford. In his spare time, he enjoys reading Winston Churchill and Edmund Burke.
