Nevada Democrats Sweep Statewide Offices, Flip Longtime GOP House Seat

Nevada Democrats delivered a sweeping midterm victory, capturing every statewide constitutional office for the first time since 1962 and flipping the state’s last Republican-held congressional seat in a night that handed them unified control of state government.

Attorney General Aaron Ford defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo to become Nevada’s first Black governor. Democrats also won the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, and controller races, flipping three Republican-held offices. Ford’s win marks only the second Democratic governor this century.

The blue wave extended to Congress. Former Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson defeated Republican David Flippo in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers Reno and most of rural northern Nevada. The seat, created after the 1980 Census and held exclusively by Republicans since 1981, had never elected a Democrat. Benitez-Thompson’s victory completed a Democratic sweep of all four Nevada House seats.

Voters also approved Question 7, the constitutional amendment requiring photo identification for in-person voting (and additional verification for mail ballots). It passed with roughly 62.3 percent of the vote after clearing the ballot once in 2024. Question 6, which enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution, also passed.

In the Legislature, Democrats secured a two-thirds supermajority in the 42-seat Assembly (the threshold is 28 seats) while falling one seat short of a supermajority in the 21-seat Senate (the threshold is 14). Pre-election, Democrats held 27 Assembly seats and 13 Senate seats. Some races remained outstanding early Wednesday, but the Assembly supermajority was confirmed after key Republican losses.

Under the Nevada Constitution, any measure that raises taxes—including a potential personal income tax, which the state currently lacks—requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers. With a supermajority only in the Assembly and a Democratic governor in Ford, Democrats can pass ordinary legislation and override many vetoes with their Assembly numbers, but they lack the votes in the Senate to unilaterally raise taxes or enact an income tax without Republican support. A full supermajority in both houses would have given them that power outright, along with the ability to override any gubernatorial veto.

The results mark a sharp reversal from 2022, when Lombardo and Republicans made gains, and reflect a broader national midterm rebuke. Democrats now control the governorship, all statewide offices, both chambers of the Legislature (with an Assembly supermajority), and the entire congressional delegation.