Will NV Attorney General Ford’s Progressive Bona Fides Swing A Swing State?

A recent report in the Daily Wire revealed that Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) joined an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that defended two young boys, aged 11 and 15, to participate on a girl’s sports team in Arizona.

“Plaintiffs simply want to participate on their school’s girl’s sports teams with their friends,” the brief stated.

“They have not experienced any of the physiological changes associated with male puberty and have no ascertainable competitive advantage over their cisgender peers,” it continued, saying that the plaintiffs identified as “girls in all aspects of their lives since an early age.”

“We must protect our children from discriminatory laws that bar access to necessary, gender-affirming health care,” Ford said in a supportive January 2022 statement. Over and over again, evidence has shown that denying transgender youth access to gender-affirming care has a detrimental effect to their mental health and quality of life.”

Ford’s backing of transgender access to girls’ private spaces and team sports is squarely at odds with Governor Joe Lombardo’s (R) position, which may be a gubernatorial campaign issue as Ford recently announced his bid against the popular Republican incumbent.

In 2023, Lombardo supported the University of Nevada Reno women’s volleyball team who refused to play against a California team with a transgender player.

At that time, Lombardo joined eight other GOP governors in a letter to the NCAA in response to an NCAA transgender policy which allows the individual governing body of each sport to determine criteria for eligibility. Their letter urged the association to “rewrite your Transgender Student Athlete Policy to protect, preserve, and encourage fairness in women’s athletics.”

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order rescinding “funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth,” the order stated.

In February 2025, the NCAA revised its transgender athlete participation policy to align with Trump’s executive order, which restricts women’s college sports to athletes assigned female at birth, marking a shift from their previous policy. While transgender women are now barred from competing, they may still practice with women’s teams.

Also in February, Ford joined another amicus brief against the Trump administration’s order to ban transgenders from serving in the U.S. military. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth noted in a congressional hearing the Department of War determined that “gender dysphoria creates complications” in military cohesion and readiness.

Today, Attorney General @AaronDFordNV, joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief to support a lawsuit aiming to block the implementation of President Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military. pic.twitter.com/SxffHIgFdU

— NV Attorney General (@NevadaAG) February 14, 2025

The brief argues that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional, harms national security, and discriminates against transgender people honorably serving in our nation’s military, including the National Guard in every state. The Supreme Court has allowed the ban to continue until lower courts provide their respective rulings.

AG Ford has filed or joined over 30 lawsuits against the Trump administration, but did not respond to our request for comment on the total number of lawsuits, nor the associated costs shouldered by Nevada taxpayers.

As Democrats in swing states try to find their footing with voters after the 2024 election, Ford’s left-of-center policies may impact his appeal with independent voters who dominate Nevada’s electorate. Should Ford win the Democratic primary, Nevada’s gubernatorial race is expected to garner national attention.