Governor Gavin Newsom Backs Aaron Ford’s Woke Campaign for Nevada Governor

The Californianization of Nevada accelerates, as yet another high-profile radical Democrat lends his endorsement and fundraising firepower to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s 2026 gubernatorial bid against Republican Governor Joe Lombardo. 

This time, it’s California Governor Gavin Newsom– the architect and overseer of the Golden State’s rapid decline. Newsome, wearing the badges of an $18B budget deficit, shuttered businesses, homelessness, increasing taxes, and economic out-migration (to name just a few), — has jumped in with a joint fundraising email promoting Ford alongside Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar in their respective races.

Governor Lombardo’s Better Nevada PAC responded to the news in a press release, referring to Ford as a “part time Attorney General:”

Clearest proof yet that Ford would Californianize Nevada.

Another day, another radical Democrat announces their support for Nevada Democrat candidate for governor and part-time attorney general Aaron Ford.

When he isn’t traveling around the world on the dime of special interests, Ford’s pushing soft-on-crime, California-style policies in Nevada. He’s done such a good job of it that he now has the support of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who has spent nearly eight years ruining California…

Ford’s reliance on out-of-state progressive cash is well-documented.

As previously reported by the California Globe, his 2025 fundraising drew 50 percent—about $1.1 million—from external donors via ActBlue, amid probes into fraud and straw donor schemes. He returned $16,000 in suspicious California-linked contributions.

His absentee record as AG is equally damning: In 2024, Ford spent roughly 137 days—one-third of the year—outside Nevada, globe-trotting to France, Singapore, Taiwan, Macau, Mexico, Cape Cod, Chicago, the Kentucky Derby, and Martha’s Vineyard on “business” or campaign trips funded by special interests.

The pattern persisted into 2025, with nearly $140,000 in travel expenses over two years—mostly campaign-funded—prompting ethics complaints over blurred official and political lines.

Newsom’s endorsement arrives hot on the heels of Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s ActBlue fundraising push for Ford just one day prior, underscoring how Ford’s campaign has become a beacon for coastal progressives eager to export their failed policies to the Silver State–policies that Governor Lombardo has vowed to prevent, and has prevented, by issuing a record number of vetoes passed by the legislative Democratic majority. Lombardo has also created a Fuel Resiliency Task Force in the wake of numerous California oil refineries reducing or shutting down operations, and is backing a ballot measure to protect female sports and private spaces from gender-dysphoric individuals.

Newsom, whose tenure has ravaged California with soft-on-crime measures, draconian lockdowns, and energy disasters, clearly sees a fellow traveler in Ford—a “part-time AG” who jets around the globe on special-interest tabs while championing woke agendas at home.

Ford has repeatedly doubled down on his progressive bona fides, vowing not to shy away from “woke” politics. At an April event hosted by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, Ford urged attendees to “stay woke” in the fight for DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, declaring: “That’s why they’ve got a war on woke, you understand? They don’t want you asking what’s going on. They want you ignorant. They want you complacent. That’s why they’re changing history books right before your eyes, and so it’s important that you stay woke and that you continue asking questions and hold folks accountable.” 

He praised companies clinging to DEI despite backlash, framing it as the “civil rights fight of our generation.”

(For the record, the Globe has asked Ford’s campaign and office for comment on prior occasions without reply. Next time, we will just ask “what’s going on” to get their response in order to assist in educating the public and holding elected officials accountable).

This embrace of DEI and “woke” ideology aligns perfectly with Newsom’s playbook. 

Ford championed AB 236, which softened penalties for retail theft in a manner reminiscent of California’s Prop 47 disaster. In 2024, Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks publicly stated that AB 236 “rubber-stamped” drug use. Hicks warned that “Nevada is on its way to becoming California” and directly tied the legislation to data that demonstrated a significant spike in crime across the second-largest county in Nevada.

During COVID, Ford backed the Sisolak administration’s lockdown policies that destroyed Nevada’s economy and small businesses–—echoing Newsom’s authoritarian approach.

As Newsom’s energy recklessness forced refinery closures and higher gas prices spilling into Nevada, Governor Lombardo has stepped up to protect fuel resiliency—while Ford stays silent amid extensive jet-setting to coastal elite cash cows and treating Nevada as a pit stop. 

Ford’s alliances with figures pushing DEI, soft-on-crime reforms, and out-of-state agendas only heighten the risk of turning Nevada into the next California—economic ruin, rising costs, and sanctuary policies protecting illegal alien criminals. 

The 2026 election isn’t just about candidates; it’s about whether the Silver State stays “Battle Born” against the woke progressive overreach and single-party rule that has crippled the once-Golden State.