Governor of Nevada

Nevada Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$163,474
2025 FY Budget:	$471,772,304
Term limits:	2 terms
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Nevada Constitution, Article V, Section I
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Governor of Nevada Joe Lombardo Republican Party Assumed office: 2023-01-02
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other Nevada Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Controller • Superintendent of Public Instruction • Agriculture Director • Insurance Commissioner • Director of Conservation and Natural Resources • Labor Commissioner • Public Utilities Commission • Employment, Training and Rehabilitation • Board of Regents

The Governor of the State of Nevada is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch and the highest state office in Nevada. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two terms.

Nevada has a divided government where neither party holds a trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor, while the Democratic Party controls both chambers of the state legislature.

Nevada has a divided government where neither party holds a triplex. The Republican Party controls the office of governor, while the Democratic Party controls the offices of attorney general and secretary of state.

See also: Nevada State Legislature, Nevada State Assembly, Nevada State Senate

Current officeholder

The 31st and current governor is Joe Lombardo (R). He was first elected in 2022.

Authority

The state Constitution addresses the office of the governor in Article V, the Executive Department.

Under Article V, Section I:

The supreme executive power of this State, shall be vested in a Chief Magistrate who shall be Governor of the State of Nevada.

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Candidates for governor must be

• at least 25 years old
• a registered elector
• a resident of Nevada for at least two years

While in office, the governor may not hold any federal level office.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article 5, Section 18.

Any time the elected governor dies, resigns, is impeached, or is temporarily or permanently unable to discharge the office, the powers and duties of the governorship shall devolve to the Lieutenant Governor of Nevada.

The lieutenant governor also serves as acting governor when the governor is absent unless the latter is absent in order to lead the state's militia and has done so with the consent of the legislature, in which case he or she remains the governor while actively serving as commander-in-chief.

Duties

The governor is commander-in-chief of the state military forces. The governor appoints department heads and members of boards and commissions.

The governor has the power to veto bills from the Nevada State Legislature. The legislature can override a veto by a two-thirds majority vote in both the Assembly and the Senate.

Law-enforcement powers include the ability to grant pardons, commute sentences, and remiss fines and forfeitures, as well as serving as the commander-in-chief of the military forces in the state, except when they are called into service of the United States.

The governor may call a special session of the legislature, wherein the legislature cannot introduce, consider or pass any bills except those related to the business for which the legislature has been specially convened and those necessary to provide for the expenses of the session.

The governor also has power to adjourn the legislature in case of a disagreement between the two Houses with respect to the time of adjournment.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

• Conducting all executive business with both civil and military officers (§ 6)

• Filling all vacancies not otherwise Constitutionally provided for (§ 8)

• Delivering a state of the state address to the legislature at each regular session (§ 10)

• Suspending the collection of fines and forfeitures and granting reprieves of not more than 60 days (§ 13)

• Granting pardons, not to extend to convictions for treason or impeachment, and commuting sentences, not to include sentences of life without parole (§ 14)

• Keeping and using the Great Seal of the State of Nevada (§ 15)

• Signing all commissions granted by the state of Nevada (§ 16)

Elections

Nevada state government organizational chart

Nevada elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years. For Nevada, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030, and 2034 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Monday in the January following an election.

2022

See also: Nevada gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Nevada

Joe Lombardo defeated incumbent Steve Sisolak, Brandon Davis, and Edward Bridges II in the general election for Governor of Nevada on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Lombardo (R)	48.8	497,377
		Steve Sisolak (D)	47.3	481,991
		Brandon Davis (L)	1.5	14,919
		Edward Bridges II (Independent American Party)	1.0	9,918
		Other/Write-in votes	1.5	14,866

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,019,071
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bradley Beck (Independent)
• Monique Richardson (Independent)
• Austin Billings (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Nevada

Incumbent Steve Sisolak defeated Tom Collins in the Democratic primary for Governor of Nevada on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Sisolak	89.5	157,283
		Tom Collins	6.9	12,051
		Other/Write-in votes	3.6	6,340

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 175,674
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Nevada

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Nevada on June 14, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joe Lombardo	38.4	87,761
		Joey Gilbert	27.0	61,738
		Dean Heller	14.0	32,087
		John J. Lee	7.8	17,846
		Guy Nohra	3.7	8,348
		Fred Simon Jr.	3.0	6,856
		Tom Heck	1.9	4,315
		Eddie Hamilton	0.6	1,293
		Amber Whitley	0.5	1,238
		William Walls	0.4	833
		Gary Evertsen	0.2	558
		Seven Achilles Evans	0.2	475
		Edward O'Brien	0.2	422
		Barak Zilberberg	0.2	352
		Stan Lusak	0.1	229
		Other/Write-in votes	1.8	4,219

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 228,570
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Michele Fiore (R)

2018

See also: Nevada gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Nevada

Steve Sisolak defeated Adam Laxalt, Ryan Bundy, Russell Best, and Jared Lord in the general election for Governor of Nevada on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Sisolak (D)	49.4	480,007
		Adam Laxalt (R)	45.3	440,320
		Ryan Bundy (Independent)	1.4	13,891
		Russell Best (Independent American Party)	1.0	10,076
		Jared Lord (L)	0.9	8,640
		Other/Write-in votes	1.9	18,865

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 971,799 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Nevada

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Nevada on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Sisolak	51.8	72,749
		Chris Giunchigliani	40.3	56,511
		John Bonaventura	3.1	4,351
		Henry Thorns	2.0	2,761
		David Jones	1.8	2,511
		Asheesh Dewan	1.0	1,468

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 140,351
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Nevada

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Nevada on June 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Adam Laxalt	74.7	101,651
		Dan Schwartz	9.5	12,919
		Jared Fisher	4.9	6,696
		Stephanie Carlisle	4.7	6,401
		Bill Boyd	4.4	6,028
		Stan Lusak	0.7	1,011
		Frederick Conquest	0.6	766
		Edward Dundas	0.4	576

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 136,048
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2014

See also: Nevada gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor of Nevada, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Sandoval Incumbent	70.6%	386,340
	Democratic	Robert Goodman	23.9%	130,722
	Independent	None of these candidates	2.9%	15,751
	Independent American	David Lory VanderBeek	2.7%	14,536
Total Votes				547,349
Election results via Nevada Secretary of State

2010

On November 2, 2010, Brian Sandoval won election to the office of Governor of Nevada. He defeated Rory Reid, David Scott Curtis, Arthur Forrest Lampitt, Eugene DiSimone, Aaron Y. Honig, and Floyd Fitzgibbons in the general election.

Governor of Nevada, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Brian Sandoval	54.3%	382,350
	Democratic	Rory Reid	42.3%	298,171
	Green	David Scott Curtis	0.6%	4,437
	Libertarian	Arthur Forrest lampitt	0.7%	4,672
	Independent	Eugene DiSimone	0.9%	6,403
	Independent	Aaron Y. Honig	0.5%	3,216
	Independent	Floyd Fitzgibbons	0.7%	5,049
Total Votes				704,298
Election results via Silver State Election Results.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Jim Gibbons won election to the office of Governor of Nevada. He defeated Dina Titus, Christopher Hansen, and Craig Bergland in the general election.

Governor of Nevada, 2006
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jim Gibbons	49.7%	279,003
	Democratic	Dina Titus	45.5%	255,684
	Ind. American	Christopher Hansen	3.6%	20,019
	Green	Craig Bergland	1.2%	6,753
Total Votes				561,459
Election results via US Election Atlas Results.

2002

On November 5, 2002, Kenny Guinn won re-election to the office of Governor of Nevada. He defeated Joseph Neal, Richard Geyer, David Holmgren, Jerry Norton, and A. Charles Laws in the general election.

Governor of Nevada, 2002
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Kenny Guinn Incumbent	71.6%	344,001
	Democratic	Joseph Neal	23.1%	110,935
	Libertarian	Richard Geyer	1.7%	8,104
	Ind. American	David Holmgren	1.5%	7,047
	Independent	Jerry Norton	1.2%	5,543
	Green	A. Charles Laws	1%	4,775
Total Votes				480,405
Election results via US Election Atlas Results.

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Nevada governors are restricted to two terms in office during their lifetime.

Nevada Constitution, Article 5, Section 3

nor shall any person be elected to the Office of Governor more than twice; and no person who has held the Office of Governor, or acted as Governor for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected Governor shall be elected to the Office of Governor more than once.

Gubernatorial removal

There are two methods available to remove a governor before the expiration of the gubernatorial term of office.

Impeachment

Main article: Article 7, Nevada Constitution

The governor can be impeached for by a majority concurrence of the Nevada State Assembly and removed by a two-thirds vote of the Nevada State Senate.

Recall

Main article: Laws governing recall in Nevada

Petitions signed by Nevada voters equal in number to 25 percent of the last vote for the office of governor. If the governor does not resign within five days of the petition's filing, a special election will be held in 30 days to determine whether the governor shall be recalled.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Nevada governors from 1992 to 2013.

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Nevada has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

Role in state budget

See also: Nevada state budget and finances

The state operates on a biennial budget cycle that starts July 1 of each biennium. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:

1. Budget instructions are sent to state agencies in March.
2. Agencies submit their requests to the governor by September 1.
3. The governor submits the budget to the Nevada State Legislature in January.
4. The legislature passes a budget in June. A simple majority is needed to pass a budget.

In Nevada, the governor does not have line-item veto power. However, the governor can veto an appropriations bill in its entirety.

The governor is required by statute to submit a balanced budget. In turn, the legislature is constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget.

Governor's office budget

The budget for the governor's office in Fiscal Year 2025 was $471,772,304.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

Article 17, Section 5 of the Nevada Constitution prescribes the salaries of governor and lieutenant governor for their first term in office. However, Article 15, Section 9 provides that the state legislature may at any time increase or decrease the salary of the governor and lieutenant governor, to become effective during the subsequent term. Since January 2011, and on the first Monday of every fourth year thereafter, the governor’s salary increases by the cumulative percentage increase in the salaries of classified Nevada employees during the governor's previous term.

2022

In 2022, the governor received a salary of $163,474, according to the Council of State Governments. Governor Steve Sisolak (D) said he would donate his salary to K-12 schools.

2021

In 2021, the governor received a salary of $163,474, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the governor's salary was $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments. Governor Steve Sisolak (D) said he would donate his salary to K-12 schools.

2019

In 2019, the governor's salary was $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments. Governor Steve Sisolak (D) said he would donate his salary to K-12 schools.

2018

In 2018, the governor received a salary of $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the governor received a salary of $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the governor received a salary of $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the governor received a salary of $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the governor received a salary of $149,573, according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the governor's salary was $149,573.

2010

In 2010, the governor was paid $141,000, the 15th highest gubernatorial salary in America at the time.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Nevada

Partisan breakdown of the Nevada governorship from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in Nevada there were Democratic governors in office for the first seven years while there were Republican governors in office for the last 15 years.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Nevada, the Nevada State Senate and the Nevada State Assembly from 1992 to 2013.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Nevada state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the study, Nevada had one Democratic trifecta during 1992. The state's SQLI rankings were high for the majority of the study, finishing in the top-10 from 1996-1997 and from 2005-2006. However, Nevada's SQLI ranking declined from then on, finishing 46th in 2012. Both its highest and lowest rankings occurred when the government was divided between Democratic and Republican control.

Chart displaying the partisanship of the Nevada government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Historical officeholders

There have been 31 Governors of Nevada since 1864. Of the 31 officeholders, 15 were Republican, 13 were Democrat, two were Silver, and one was Silver-Democratic.

List of officeholders from 1864-present
#	Name	Tenure	Party
1	James Warren Nye	1864 - 1864	Republican
2	Henry Goode Blasdel	1864 - 1871	Republican
3	Lewis Rice Bradley	1871 - 1879	Democratic
4	John Henry Kinkead	1879 - 1883	Republican
5	Jewett William Adams	1883 - 1887	Democratic
6	Charles Clark Stevenson	1887 - 1890	Republican
7	Frank Jardine Bell	1890 - 1891	Republican
8	Roswell Keyes Colcord	1891 - 1895	Republican
9	John Edward Jones	1895 - 1896	Silver
10	Reinhold Sadler	1896 - 1903	Silver
11	John Sparks	1903 - 1908	Silver-Democratic
12	Denver Sylvester Dickerson	1908 - 1911	Democratic
13	Tasker Lowndes Oddie	1911 - 1915	Republican
14	Emmet Derby Boyle	1915 - 1923	Democratic
15	James Graves Scrugham	1923 - 1927	Democratic
16	Frederick Bennett Balzar	1927 - 1934	Republican
17	Morley Isaac Griswold	1934 - 1935	Republican
18	Richard Kirman	1935 - 1939	Democratic
19	Edward Peter Carville	1939 - 1945	Democratic
20	Vail Montgomery Pittman	1945 - 1951	Democratic
21	Charles Hinton Russell	1951 - 1959	Republican
22	Grant Sawyer	1959 - 1967	Democratic
23	Paul Dominque Laxalt	1967 - 1971	Republican
24	Mike O'Callaghan	1971 - 1979	Democratic
25	Robert Frank List	1978 - 1983	Republican
26	Richard H. Bryan	1983 - 1989	Democratic
27	Bob Miller	1989 - 1999	Democratic
28	Kenny Guinn	1999 - 2007	Republican
29	Jim Gibbons	2007 - 2011	Republican
30	Brian Sandoval	2011 - 2019	Republican
31	Steve Sisolak	2019 - 2023	Democratic

State profile

Demographic data for Nevada
	Nevada	U.S.
Total population:	2,883,758	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	109,781	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	69%	73.6%
Black/African American:	8.4%	12.6%
Asian:	7.7%	5.1%
Native American:	1.1%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.6%	0.2%
Two or more:	4.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	27.5%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.1%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	23%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$51,847	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	17.8%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Nevada. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Nevada

Nevada voted for the Democratic candidate in four out of the six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

More Nevada coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Nevada
• United States congressional delegations from Nevada
• Public policy in Nevada
• Influencers in Nevada
• Nevada fact checks
• More...

Contact information

Carson City
State Capitol Building
101 N. Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone: (775) 684-5670

Las Vegas
Grant Sawyer State Office Building
555 East Washington Ave, Suite 5100
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: (702) 486-2500

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Office of the Governor of Nevada