Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff who oversees the Las Vegas area and was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, has won Nevada’s Republican primary
Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff who oversees the Las Vegas area and was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, has won Nevada’s Republican primary for governor.
The Associated Press declared Mr. Lombardo the winner early Wednesday over a field that included four other major candidates for the right to challenge Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, in the general election.
The November election is expected to be one of the tightest governor’s races in the country. Nevada’s political environment is highly favorable to Republicans because of unified Democratic control of the state amid a series of tough economic indicators, with the costs of rent and gasoline increasing at among the fastest rates in the country.
Mr. Lombardo, who as the sheriff of Clark County became known nationally for overseeing the response to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 60 people at a concert, had established himself as the race’s polling leader by the time Mr. Trump endorsed him in late April, giving the sheriff his boilerplate seal of approval on taxes, abortion, gun rights and election issues.
Mr. Lombardo has since highlighted his endorsement from the former president across his television and digital advertising.
Mr. Lombardo defeated former Senator Dean Heller, who waffled on his support for Mr. Trump before his failed 2018 re-election campaign; Joey Gilbert, a Reno lawyer and former professional boxer who was endorsed by the Nevada Republican Party; Mayor John Lee of North Las Vegas; Guy Nohra, a Lebanese-born venture capitalist; and Fred Simon, a physician.
Such was Mr. Lombardo’s advantage after the Trump endorsement that during a televised debate last month, he declared the primary contest over and asked his Republican rivals to “come together” behind him to defeat Mr. Sisolak.
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