Out-of-State Democrats Pour More Than $1 Million Into Aaron Ford’s Gubernatorial Bid

National Democrats who want the White House in 2028 are writing checks and booking flights for Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and the money is landing in a governor’s race that pollsters predict is a toss up. 

POLITICO Playbook reported Wednesday that prospective 2028 candidates have given or raised more than $1 million for Ford’s bid against Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, much of it in the past month. Nevada votes second on the Democratic presidential calendar and will be a general-election battleground again in 2028. 

Ford spokesperson Tai Sims told Playbook that “everyone who understands” Nevada’s importance to the party’s nominating process “is investing here now.” 

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker donated $400,000 in late August to A More Affordable Nevada, a PAC affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s PAC put in $250,000 in September. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel raised $25,000 for the pro-Ford PAC Forward Nevada. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego gave $10,000 to that PAC and raised another $25,000 at a Phoenix event in May.

California progressives are doing the heaviest lifting. Playbook reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom raised more than $125,000 for Ford through emails in January and September and another $35,000 at an in-state fundraiser. 

That tracks months of California Globe coverage: Newsom formally backed Ford early in the cycle, opened a summer swing in Las Vegas to raise money and rally volunteers, and was introduced by Ford at a North Las Vegas field office as “the governor of the great state of California.” A Lombardo-aligned PAC later plastered the valley with signs pairing the two men’s faces. 

The Globe has also reported that Lombardo’s contrast is explicit—he says he is fighting Newsom’s agenda while Ford is trying to import it.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pledged to raise $100,000 for Ford and gave $5,000 to the campaign. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore pledged $50,000 to $100,000 for the Nevada State Democratic Party. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker gave $10,000 to the state party from his PAC and hosted a fundraiser for Ford.

Moore was in Las Vegas last weekend for canvass launches and a fundraiser for Ford and Rep. Steven Horsford. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin is set to headline a Washoe Democrats fundraiser in Reno on Oct. 7. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is due the same week. 

When early voting opens Oct. 17, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Beshear, Emanuel, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, and California Rep. Ro Khanna are expected in Las Vegas.

 California Globe reported Sept. 29 that former Vice President Kamala Harris will host a Ford fundraiser in Santa Monica on Oct. 5, the same week mail ballots go out. Harris has already endorsed Ford, and his campaign has used her video pitches calling the contest a “tied race” and a “critical pickup opportunity.” 

Ford is raising money in California with the nation’s highest income-tax rates while his closing argument at home is affordability, in a swing state that has drawn California transplants fleeing taxes and the cost of living.

That Santa Monica fundraising swing is not an outlier. California Globe reported Sept. 22 that Ford’s path to the governor’s mansion runs through ActBlue pages and airports. In September alone the campaign listed New Orleans, New York, Dallas, and Charleston events with national Democrats, including a New York stop with Attorney General Letitia James and another with former DNC chair Tom Perez. 

Earlier reporting on Newsom’s summer tour found Ford had already hosted fundraisers in Texas, California, and Washington, D.C., alongside appearances with Harris, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod told Playbook that a candidate who wants Ford’s company on the trail is also signaling appeal to the Democratic primary electorate. A Nevada Democratic operative was more cautious, telling Playbook that a progressive surrogate is the wrong closer in a purple state and that “how people engage matters as much as whether or not they do.”

Lombardo’s campaign is treating Ford’s guest list and travel as the story. On Wednesday the governor posted that Ford “puts out-of-state donors ahead of Nevadans,” noting that Ford was in Texas that day after what the campaign called more than 420 days outside the state. The 420-day figure tracks earlier Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting on Ford’s calendars. 

Another day, another flight, another reminder that Aaron Ford puts out-of-state donors ahead of Nevadans.

After spending 420+ days (and counting) out of Nevada, today Ford is in Texas. Nevadans deserve someone who puts his job here first. pic.twitter.com/F9WTRN7MKm

— Joe Lombardo (@JoeLombardoNV) September 30, 2026

The Review-Journal found Ford was out of state about 137 days in 2024 alone—a figure the Globe has cited alongside state records putting his airfare, hotels, and sponsored conference travel well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a Nevada Commission on Ethics case advanced over more than $35,000 in luxury trips tied to the Attorney General Alliance.

July campaign-finance reports already showed the same split. The Nevada Independent reported that about 64% of the money Ford raised from donors who gave more than $100 came from outside Nevada, compared with 25% for Lombardo. 

A California Globe review of those filings identified two $10,000 maximum contributions from relatives of George Soros, including Jonathan Soros, after Newsom’s public endorsement. 

Despite the out-of-state cash, Lombardo still holds the advantage. Second-quarter reports put him near $9 million on hand in his campaign account against roughly $2.6 million for Ford, with Lombardo’s affiliated PACs widening the gap further.

The national cash is arriving while Ford is still answering for a Sept. 16 Board of Pardons Commissioners agenda item. He sponsored an application tied to Norman Smith, convicted in the killing of a pregnant woman. Ford’s campaign has said he would have voted no on clemency and that the sponsorship was procedural. Playbook called the headlines damaging. 

Public polling has the race anywhere from tied to a modest Lombardo lead. Emmy Ruiz, a former Biden White House political director who started in Nevada campaigns, told Playbook the obvious part: “Nevada is an incredibly difficult state that you have to fight for.”

The people writing the largest checks do not live in Nevada. Pritzker is in Illinois. Beshear is in Kentucky. Newsom and Harris are in California. For Ford, that is a closing argument about national importance. For Lombardo, it is a closing argument about who the candidate is answering to in the last month before early voting.