Three days after a prominent artificial intelligence investor and his wife donated $1 million to a political action committee boosting Nevada Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s reelection campaign, Lombardo publicly endorsed the state’s booming data-center buildout. A week later, the PAC collected another $1 million from the wife of a developer building those facilities in Nevada…
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This guy has a rap sheet so long you’d think he was a mobster.
Ethics violation (2022 campaign → 2025 settlement) The Nevada Commission on Ethics censured him and fined him $20,000 in 2023 for willfully using his sheriff’s badge and uniform in his gubernatorial campaign ads. He later settled for $5,000 in 2025.
Boring Company safety cover-up (2024–2025) After firefighters suffered permanent chemical burns at Elon Musk’s Boring Company tunnel site in Las Vegas, over $400,000 in OSHA fines were dropped after Lombardo’s office intervened. Multiple former officials called the involvement “absolutely not appropriate.”
Water regulator fired, then $510K from Nevada Gold Mines (2025) He abruptly fired the state’s top water regulator, Adam Sullivan, who had proposed a draft policy that could have limited profits for Nevada Gold Mines. Weeks later, Lombardo’s campaign and a supportive PAC received $510,000 from the mining company.
“I’m Joe Lombardo” traffic stop (May 2026, video released July 2026) Bodycam footage shows him pulled over near Mandalay Bay for a red light violation. He interrupted the officer with “I’m Joe Lombardo” and was let go without a ticket. Aaron Ford, the AG and his Democratic opponent, called it “absolutely abused authority.” A private ethics complaint was filed against him over it.
Earlier as sheriff (2022) The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported he elevated a right-hand man through the police ranks despite allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
