A Democratic win in Nevada's governor race could revive dozens of bills Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed twice

What happened

The Las Vegas Sun reported that a long list of bills Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed in both 2023 and 2025 could get another chance if Attorney General Aaron Ford wins the governor's race. They include a cap on prescription drug prices at Medicare levels, a cap on rent increases for seniors and a ban on people under 21 owning semiautomatic rifles. The Sun counted at least eight other bills the Republican governor rejected in both sessions.

Lombardo issued a state-record 87 vetoes in 2025, according to the Sun. If Democrats keep their legislative majorities, as the Sun says forecasters expect, and Ford wins, Democrats would control the governor's office and both chambers for the first time since January 2023.

Where the governor's race stands

The Sun reported that polls show a dead heat, with the RealClearPolling average at 42% for each candidate. Ford has said he would sign several of the vetoed measures within his first 30 days, including the drug-price cap, universal free school meals and limits on corporate homebuying. For timing on returns, see our guide to how Nevada election night results arrive.

Lombardo argues his vetoes protected Nevadans from costly mandates and warns that a Democratic sweep would mean higher taxes. He has pledged no new taxes. His campaign points to $2 billion in new funding during his term, $183 million for housing and a bipartisan housing law now funding new homes.

Bills that could come back

Health care costs

Assembly Bill 259 (2025) would have capped drug prices at the maximums Medicare sets under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Lombardo said it would raise state costs and that Medicaid could lose millions in drug rebates. He also vetoed Senate Bill 217, which would have codified a right to in vitro fertilization, as well as hospital nurse-to-patient ratios in Clark and Washoe counties and limits on medical-debt collection.

Housing and schools

Senate Bill 391, from Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, would have capped corporate investors at 100 homes a year. It needed a two-thirds Senate vote and fell one short after Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, voted no, and Hansen said Lombardo's office had asked Republican senators to oppose it.

Assembly Bill 280 would have limited senior rent increases to 5% a year in a roughly one-year pilot. Ford says he would sign a seniors' cap but not general rent control. On school meals, Lombardo's office said about 87% of schools already serve free meals to all students.

Elections and guns

Assembly Bill 306 would have required clerks in certain counties to keep mail ballot drop boxes available between the end of early voting and Election Day. Lombardo vetoed it in May 2025, citing a lack of oversight. He also vetoed, for a second time, Assembly Bill 245, the under-21 ban on semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, calling it "strikingly similar" to the 2023 bill.

Workers and tenants

Assembly Bill 388 would have required employers with 50 or more workers to offer 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave a year. Tenant bills on the Sun's list would have overhauled summary eviction, let tenants withhold rent when landlords skip needed repairs and automatically sealed eviction cases.

Limits even with a Democratic sweep

A vetoed bill does not become law automatically under a new governor. Each would have to be reintroduced, heard and passed again in the 120-day session that begins Feb. 1. Revenue-raising bills need two-thirds of each chamber, and the Sun reported Democrats hold 13 of 21 Senate seats and 27 of 42 Assembly seats, one short of two-thirds in each.

Democrats do not always vote together. The Sun noted that Assemblymember Tracy Brown-May and Sen. Roberta Lange, both Las Vegas Democrats, voted against paid family leave. Federal Medicaid changes and a weaker revenue picture could also squeeze a Ford budget, and hospitals, business groups and landlords opposed several of the bills.

Some vetoed ideas already became law

In 2025, Lombardo signed Assembly Bill 530, which lets the Clark County Commission keep indexing fuel taxes to inflation with a two-thirds vote, after vetoing a nearly identical bill in 2023. He also signed Assembly Bill 96, which requires counties and cities with populations over 100,000 to include a heat mitigation plan in their master plans.

What to watch next

• The outcome of the governor's race between Ford and Lombardo, which polls show as a dead heat.
• Whether Democrats keep their majorities in the Senate and Assembly.
• The Legislature convenes Feb. 1 in Carson City for a 120-day session, where vetoed bills would have to be reintroduced.
• Ford has said he would sign the drug-price cap, free school meals and corporate homebuying limits within his first 30 days if elected.