Lombardo’s Record 162 Vetoes Cleared the Path for Ford’s California-Style Agenda

Governor-elect Aaron Ford and a Democratic-controlled Legislature are positioned to advance progressive priorities that Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo blocked with a record 162 vetoes—75 in the 2023 session and 87 in 2025. Those rejections repeatedly stopped gun restrictions, expanded labor mandates, transgender policies, and measures that critics, including Lombardo, compared to California’s regulations.

Ford, Nevada’s first Black governor, campaigned on an explicit promise to repeal the state’s long-standing right-to-work law. In a podcast interview with union leaders, he stated: “The moment you send it to me — first term, I ain’t waiting. … They can send me a bill. And if they send it to me, I’m signing it.” The 1953 law, enacted by voters, prohibits requiring workers to join or pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. Repealing it would allow “closed shop” arrangements favored by organized labor, including unions that backed Ford.

As the California Globe previously reported, this marks a sharp break from past statewide Democrats who largely avoided the issue, and it would align Nevada more closely with California’s compulsory-dues model.

Democrats secured an Assembly supermajority but hold a 13–8 edge in the Senate—one seat short of the two-thirds majority (14 of 21) required under the Nevada Constitution for any bill that “creates, generates, or increases any public revenue.” Nevada has never had a personal state income tax; Article 10, Section 1 of the Constitution explicitly prohibits one on “the wages or personal income of natural persons.” Changing that requires identical constitutional amendments approved by voters in two consecutive general elections. With only a standard majority in the Senate, Democrats cannot unilaterally raise existing taxes or fees without at least one Republican vote. They can, however, pursue workarounds such as new fees structured to avoid the two-thirds threshold, expanded business taxes, or ballot initiatives.

As the California Globe noted in its election coverage, the Assembly supermajority alone does not unlock the revenue tools a full supermajority would have provided.

Among the most significant measures Lombardo rejected:

Guns: Democrats twice passed bills raising the age to 21 for possessing certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, banning firearms within 100 feet of election sites, and barring people with hate-crime convictions from owning guns. Lombardo vetoed the 2023 versions (AB 354, AB 355, and SB 171) and similar measures in 2025, stating he would not support legislation that “infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans” and conflicted with legal precedent. These are expected to return.

Labor and unions: Beyond right-to-work, Lombardo vetoed expanded paid family and medical leave requirements for larger private employers and measures allowing certain workers to use accrued leave for family care outside collective bargaining agreements. Democrats have signaled these will be reintroduced.

Transgender policies: Lombardo vetoed shield-law legislation protecting providers of gender-affirming care from out-of-state legal actions and a bill requiring local detention facilities to develop specific policies for transgender, gender-nonconforming, and intersex individuals. He had signed related prison protections in 2023 but rejected the expanded versions.

Education and other areas: Vetoes included universal “free” school meals, summer school, and class-size relief that education unions highlighted, along with various fee and regulatory expansions. Environment-related proposals, such as restrictions on certain refrigerants that would have required retrofits of existing systems, were also rejected.

The incoming Democratic trifecta follows years of California Globe reporting on Ford’s ties to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose endorsement and fundraising support framed the race as a contest over whether Nevada would import high-tax, high-regulation policies. Ford’s own record includes support for 2019 criminal justice reforms that raised felony theft thresholds, higher than California’s thresholds.

With Lombardo’s veto pen no longer in the way, the practical limits will be the Senate’s shortfall from a two-thirds majority and Nevada’s constitutional barriers to a personal income tax. Democrats can still advance a substantial share of the previously blocked agenda through ordinary legislation, fees, and labor law changes that do not trigger the supermajority requirement.