Nevada AG Slapped With Ethics Complaint

Following multiple reports revealing Nevada Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford’s luxurious jet-setting lifestyle that had him spending one-third of his time outside the state of Nevada in 2024, Bernie Zadrowski, a retired Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney, has filed an ethics complaint (see below) against Ford related to the intermingling of his official Attorney General and campaign social media accounts.

The complainant alleges Ford is “using taxpayer-funded resources to bolster his campaign for governor.“

The complaint states:

Below are numerous examples of clear, blatant campaign violations showing Subject’s linking his personal campaign Twitter/X social media account (@AaronDFordNV) to the State of Nevada’s official Nevada Attorney General X site (@NevadaAG)

Subject Ford has willfully failed to separate official and campaign socialmedia presences by including links on the official Attorney General social media site, run by State staff, to his personal campaign social media site. One need only click the link to his personal campaign site to be subject to his campaign materials.

Including this link so prominently in the official Nevada Attorney General site is designed specifically to create the impression of government sanction. This use of the public resource to support Subject Ford’s campaign and by failing to maintain separate official and campaign social media presences clearly creates the impression of government sanction, in violation of Nevada Ethics laws and rules.

The complaint includes over 100 links and screenshots of the alleged violations, including:

In a prior ethics complaint filed in 2022 against a Washoe County School Board member’s improper use of social media, the Ethics commission determined:

“If the use in question leads a reasonable person to believe the government supported the campaign, it would create an appearance of impropriety…” and that “public officers and employees are not entitled to take advantage of public resources to support their own campaign or other political campaigns…The best ethical practice for public officers or employees who are also candidates for office is to maintain separate official and campaign social media presences in order to make it crystal clear that communications from any official account are not related to promotion of a candidacy and those on the campaign account are for private campaign purposes. Moreover, a mixed use social media account creates concern under the Ethics Law and increases the likelihood that ethics complaints will be filed, each of which will be considered based upon the facts presented in the case.” 

“Public servants have an obligation to separate their personal political activities from their duties to the people of our state. As a retired career prosecutor and public servant, my professional obligations to the people of Clark County and the State of Nevada were guided by a code of ethics that required all public servants to subordinate our personal interests to our professional duties.  By directing followers of his official social media accounts to a campaign account with a fundraising link, Aaron Ford is using taxpayer-funded resources to bolster his campaign for governor. His conduct represents a willful violation of our state’s ethics laws and an alarming breach of the public’s trust. He should face accountability for his actions,” Zadrwoski said in an email to state press outlets.

Ford is running against Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in 2026 with promises of free school lunches, price-fixing, and an array of progressive policies that have earned him endorsements from numerous Democratic state leaders.

The Globe will continue to follow this story and provide updates, accordingly.