On the Record: What are Democratic governor candidate Aaron Ford's plans for Nevada?

Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), the leading Democratic candidate for governor, has put the increasing cost of living at the forefront of his campaign. 

But in a nearly 45-minute sit-down interview with The Nevada Independent in mid-May, Ford answered questions about issues beyond inflation, including promising not to raise taxes during an affordability crisis and pledging that if elected governor, he would end the death penalty if the Legislature took steps to do so. 

"I've been unequivocal about my position on the death penalty," he said. "I am opposed to it, and I would sign the bill to repeal."

Ford noted he would still carry out a death penalty case in his role as attorney general if he were required to do so.

As for a requirement in state law mandating that third graders will be held back starting in 2028 if they don't reach reading proficiency, Ford said he would not repeal it, a position he said he held "pretty unequivocally," although he's open to adjustments.

If elected in the fall, Ford would be Nevada's first Black governor, and he said he wants to represent individuals regardless of their background or identities.

Read below to see Ford's stances on issues ranging from data centers to education policies and paid family leave.

Issues

Right to work

Ford previously said that if elected governor, he would get rid of Nevada's long-standing "right-to-work" law, which prohibits labor unions and employers from requiring union membership for employment. Labor organizations have criticized such laws for allowing non-dues-paying workers to "freeload" off union-won benefits.

"That's tantamount to freeloading, and I think union labor has the exact same right as businesses that they have to argue against to ensure that their most precious benefits are paid for," he said in an interview with The Nevada Independent, quoting a Snoop Dogg lyric: "Now that I got me some Seagram's gin, everybody got their cup, but they ain't chipped in." 

Ford said right-to-work laws are an unfair approach the government uses to stifle unions' ability to bargain with their employers. Removing the law enacted more than 70 years ago, he said, will give workers the ability to negotiate better wages and working conditions and help build and preserve the middle class.

Data centers

Amid a nationwide reckoning on whether data centers are overconsuming power and water — and whether the relatively low number of jobs they create are worth the incentives governments dish out to attract them — Ford said he would reserve judgment on changing the state's current set of tax abatements for data centers until he could analyze the existing system.

Ford, who supported the creation of the tax breaks as a state senator in 2015, pointed to his energy plan, which calls for data centers to pay their fair share for increased energy demand and commit to conserving water. He pointed to a situation in which NV Energy has declined to continue supplying power to a California utility serving Lake Tahoe, citing its own resource needs, which are strained by data center power requests.

"What we're not going to have under my administration is what we're seeing happening in North Tahoe right now. To be sure, it's North Tahoe on the California side, but it's energy that is being stopped by NV Energy, so they can supply data centers," he said. "Those are things that concern me greatly, and we need to contend with those."

(Editor's note: Click here for more information on the Lake Tahoe situation.)

Both Ford and Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) have touted the economic benefits of data centers, which provide a lot of construction but few permanent jobs, and both have pledged not to support projects that would increase utility costs for Nevadans.

Collective bargaining

Under existing Nevada law, certain perks agreed to in collective bargaining agreements with state employees require legislative approval. The agreements also aren't binding — the governor has the power to disregard salary demands if they would strain the state budget, and last year, certain agreed-upon benefits did not materialize amid financial concerns.

Ford said that he's "not averse to talking about" making more parts of state worker collective bargaining agreements binding. 

"It's a conversation worth having," he said. "We need to see how it works. I know that it was an intricate balance to get it passed in the first place."

Expanding paid leave

In 2017, in his capacity as Senate majority leader, Ford sponsored a bill to expand paid leave and helped pass a bill out of committee to increase the minimum wage. 

"It got vetoed," Ford said. "So there's a hint for you on my position on paid leave."

The legislation would have required businesses with 25 or more employees to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave each year to full-time employees. Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) also vetoed the minimum wage increase.

A similar law was enacted in 2019 under then-Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), after Ford had moved on to the attorney general role. Nevada requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide roughly 40 hours of paid leave a year that can be taken for any reason, including for illness or to care for a family member. 

There have since been efforts to expand that further. A 2025 bill would have required employers with at least 50 workers to provide 12 weeks of annual paid family and medical leave, but Lombardo vetoed it. The legislation also expanded the reasons for taking leave to include bonding with a newborn or a newly placed foster child and addressing issues related to domestic violence.

K-12 education

Ford wants to increase education funding to raise the state's per-pupil spending to the national average but is not open to adding new taxes during an affordability crisis, and has said that he'd like to grow the tax base by recruiting new businesses and jobs to Nevada. Lombardo has consistently reiterated a pledge of no new taxes.

Nevada's per-pupil funding for the 2024-2025 school year, about $14,000, is roughly $3,500 less than the national average, according to the latest state and federal data. Reaching the national average is estimated to cost an additional $2.7 billion per year by the end of a 10-year ramp-up period.

Ford said he plans to help supplement education funding by eliminating fraud, waste and abuse, reallocating the losses to education. He added that he'd also like to establish additional revenue sources for education by attracting new industries to the Silver State. 

Specifically, Ford's campaign highlighted a June 2025 report from the state controller's office showing Nevada had more than $500 million in unpaid taxes and fees that it deemed receivable. Much of this debt is often eventually declared uncollectible. 

Ford said he plans to collect those dollars for schools. Critics have called the funding one-time sources and state officials have noted that the money from collected debts typically goes into a separate account that helps pay for collection services but is rarely tapped into. It can also take years to track down and collect the debt.

As for growing the tax base, Ford noted that Nevada is home to one of the largest metropolitan areas without a financial district, such as those in Los Angeles, Houston and Detroit, and he's already had conversations with companies about establishing one there, such as those in Los Angeles, Houston and Detroit.

His campaign clarified that this doesn't necessarily mean that he wants to offer incentives to companies, but rather attract more businesses from the financial and high-tax sectors as a way to diversify the economy. The development of such a district, campaign officials said, would be hashed out in coordination with the Legislature and other lawmakers once Ford was elected. 

Ford acknowledged that it will take time to ensure education is properly funded in Nevada, but his administration will do everything it can to improve funding without imposing an undue financial burden on residents.

"We live in the Silver State, but that's no silver bullet when it comes to a lot of the issues we have to face," he said.

Higher education

Ford has pledged to use every resource at his disposal to support graduate student workers' right to organize and to collectively bargain. He said that he intends to work with the Legislature to stop predatory lending practices that lure students into debt and ban practices that lock students into never-ending debt.

He's worked on the issue as attorney general — his campaign cited a $1.7 billion settlement (Nevada's share was $18 million) that resolved claims dating back to 2009, when lender Navient steered certain borrowers into costly forbearance plans instead of counseling them about income-driven repayment plans. Ford maintained that banning practices such as this and reducing other costs for students, such as limiting tuition increases at Nevada's universities and colleges, is critical.

School choice

Under the budget passed by Congress last year, states will have the opportunity to opt into a school choice program that allows taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to qualifying organizations. Lombardo has already opted the state into the program.

Ford said he's opposed to spending public funds on private schools, and, to the extent the program does so, he's against it. He's assessing the legality of Lombardo opting into the program, what that could mean for the state and then using that information to decide how to proceed.

Energy

In his energy proposal, Ford said he'd put a stop to NV Energy's controversial daily demand charge. 

The charge is set to take effect in January and will charge Southern Nevada residential customers for the maximum amount of energy they use during a 15-minute period throughout each day. The charge will be offset by reductions in other costs, and state energy regulators say they expect overall bills to go down for the 90 percent of Nevadans who don't have rooftop solar. Advocates for solar energy say the rate change is unlawful and unfairly disadvantages solar customers. 

Asked about how he'd plan to follow through on his pledge to stop the charge, Ford noted that his Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) is already suing the company because he thinks it's unlawful.

The Indy's interview with Ford was conducted before two judges — in Northern and Southern Nevada — ruled against Ford's office and sided with NV Energy and the state's Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which approves changes to the utility companies' rates. Ford has indicated that his office plans to seek to overturn those judges' decisions and bring the issue before the state Supreme Court.

He said that if the lawsuit ultimately fails, he plans to ask the Legislature to work with him to change the law because he believes "the daily demand charge is not good public policy in our state."

In response to queries about whether it's wrong for the governor to interfere in regulatory decision-making, Ford said he believes the governor has a role in the process, in the sense that the governor appoints individuals to the utilities commission. He said the governor has an obligation to appoint commissioners who look out for the best interests of Nevadans. Two of the three members of the commission were appointed by Sisolak and reappointed by Lombardo.

"I have a consumer protection advocate who has stood in the gap between these utilities and our consumers to ensure they don't pass on marketing fees and travel expenses and fancy dinners on to consumers," he said. "A PUC that does not disallow that is one that is doing a disservice to Nevadans."

Climate change

Though Ford has said relatively little on climate change, he said he is proud to have the endorsement of the Nevada Conservation League and is committed to addressing climate issues. 

The endorsement, he said, recognizes his history of supporting environmental protection issues. He said he's sued the president for repealing a rule that allowed the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and to protect Nevada's ability to pursue growth in the solar industry.

"We're going to continue to work with interest groups and figure out what the best approaches are for conservation and climate issues, and look to implement that into our plans going forward," Ford said.

Film tax

Ford spearheaded a bipartisan effort to implement Nevada's film tax credit program as a state senator in 2013 and has championed the growth of the program. 

The program amount, which authorized $20 million annually for four years as part of a pilot program, he said, was "modest" and "balanced." 

"I was able to get buy-in. That's what's important, understanding that economic development, it should not be to give away the store," he said. "But it should also indicate a state's willingness to work with entities and industries to come here to induce them to come, but it's a proper balance, and you learn from that."

Ford demurred on whether he would have signed the massive film tax credit expansion legislation presented during last year's special session that ultimately failed to pass.

"I'm not opining on that. I wasn't engaged in that conversation. I couldn't tell you all the intricacies of it," he said. "What I will say, though, is that the conversation is one that needed to occur, and learning lessons from the past and applying that through current circumstances is the approach that we're going to take."