Aaron Ford spent one-third of 2024 outside Nevada

Last year, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford ended the summer with a meeting of state attorneys general in France, followed by a conference on picturesque Martha’s Vineyard off Cape Cod.

He then traveled to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, and on to Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio, spending just four days in Nevada from July 28 to Aug. 28, his campaign confirmed.

All told, Ford, who is running for governor in 2026, spent more than a third of 2024 traveling out of state.

A Las Vegas Review-Journal analysis of Ford’s official calendar, campaign expense report, annual financial disclosure statement and social media posts shows that he was out of state approximately 137 days in 2024, a figure confirmed by Ford’s campaign. The Review-Journal requested Ford’s 2025 calendar in August but has not yet received it.

Ford’s trips included international stays on Mexico’s Baja and Yucatan peninsulas, and in Singapore, Taiwan and France, as well as domestic travels from coast to coast.

Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is running for re-election next year, traveled out of state about 30 days last year, a similar analysis shows. He traveled to Marco Island, Florida, and New Orleans for meetings of the Republican Governors Association and Council of State Governments, respectively, and to Orlando, Florida, for a tour of a high-speed train system coming to Las Vegas. And he spent about a week out of state on vacation, according to a spokesperson.

Ford’s extensive travel has met with criticism from a Republican group.

“Aaron Ford has treated the attorney general’s office as a part-time job and a way to vacation around the world on someone else’s dime,” John Burke, a spokesperson for the pro-Lombardo Better Nevada PAC, said in a statement to the Review-Journal after the news organization presented him with its findings regarding Ford’s travels.

State money was not used for the out-of-state travel, which was paid for with campaign or personal funds or by sponsoring organizations, said John Sadler, the attorney general’s communications director. Ford declined an interview request.

Nevada law allows the use of campaign funds for all expenses incurred by a candidate for a campaign, including for travel and special events.

Ford reported four third-party-sponsored trips totaling $35,000 in an annual disclosure form required under state law. He visited Normandy, France; Macau and Singapore; Tulum, Mexico; and Taipei, Taiwan, through the bipartisan Attorney General Alliance and the National Association of Attorneys General. Ford served as the AGA chairman in 2024.

A spokesperson for Ford’s gubernatorial campaign said the sponsored trips bring attorneys general together to tackle challenges across state lines, such as labor and sex trafficking, fentanyl and wildlife trafficking, cybercrime, environmental threats, social media and opioids.

“In that same time, Ford has been laser-focused on protecting Nevadans in his role as Attorney General,” campaign spokesperson Tai Sims said in a statement to the Review-Journal.

Ford reported the most sponsored travel in 2024 of Nevada’s constitutional officers.

Lombardo disclosed $18,400 in sponsored travel, primarily for governors conferences and a “fact-finding” trip on emerging medical technologies for him and the first lady to the main Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which has a treatment facility in Las Vegas. State funds paid for three of the governor’s trips, including trips to Orlando for a Brightline facilities tour and to Washington, D.C., for the National Economic Security Alliance.

Lombardo’s re-election campaign declined to comment on Ford’s travel.

Trips around the globe

Sims said that of the 137 days that Ford was out of state, 98 were work-related, including 65 on business of the bipartisan attorneys general organizations and 33 for events geared toward prominent Black leaders. Twenty-three were campaign-related or in conjunction with the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

Ford also spent 19 days out of office for personal reasons, 16 of which were spent out of state. Those days included trips to visit sick parents, vacation with his wife and travel to attend his father-in-law’s 90th birthday celebration, according to his campaign. His personal days included Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Ford’s international travels for the year began in April.

After he attended the National Association of Attorneys General Symposium in Chicago on April 24 and April 25, he traveled to Singapore and Macau for four days to attend meetings about gaming and international crime for the Attorney General Alliance, according to Ford’s campaign.

The following month, according to his Instagram account, Ford attended the Kentucky Derby, a trip his campaign said was in connection with the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

Late July launched a period of more intensive travel for Ford.

A weeklong trip to France in late July and early August, sponsored by the Attorney General Alliance, was described by organizers as commemorating the 80th anniversary of the June 6 D-Day invasion and paying tribute to those who fought in Normandy. While the late-summer visit trailed the official commemoration, it did coincide with the Paris Olympics.

Ford did not attend the Olympics, Sadler previously told the Review-Journal, though a post on X, formerly Twitter, places him and family members at a related event. Ford visited the Team USA House as a guest of his sister-in-law, 1996 triple-jump Olympian Cynthea Rhodes-Patterson, Sadler later said.

Meeting with Black leaders

In August, Ford spent 2½ weeks on the East Coast and in the Midwest. That included about a week on Martha’s Vineyard in the Cape and Islands attending the KAIROS conference, an annual event that provides an opportunity for leaders of color to connect for “relationship building, ideation, deal flow and partnership development.”

Ford’s campaign said he served on different panels and participated in workshops about issues that matter to the Black community. For instance, Ford led a session titled “Reimagining of legal strategy in a changing landscape,” according to the event’s agenda.

Ford spent nearly $12,000 in campaign funds at a boutique hotel, The Richard, on Martha’s Vineyard and about $2,000 at restaurants and on a rental car, according to his campaign expense report. Ford’s campaign declined to provide details on the hotel tab.

The attorney general also traveled out of state for 2½ weeks in September, including a weeklong trip to Washington, D.C., where his calendar shows that he spoke at an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority public policy forum, served as a panelist at a Congressional Black Caucus event and attended a U.S. Chamber reception.

He was out of state for 2½ weeks in October, including a weeklong trip to Taiwan as part of a National Association of Attorneys General delegation and a meeting of a working group of the Attorney General Alliance in Deadwood, South Dakota, on topics ranging from cybersecurity to cannabis law.

In November, Ford traveled for about two weeks, including to the Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf and Spa, an adults-only AAA Four Diamond Resort in Baja, Mexico, for a conference of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association. He spoke on an hourlong panel about sports betting, according to the conference’s panel list.

Ford reported spending more than $2,800 in campaign funds at the resort. He also used $2,500 in campaign funds to make a donation to the group.

Campaigning across the country

His 2024 travels included campaigning for himself as the attorney general, as well as for national Democrats such as then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

In May he traveled to Philadelphia for a Black Voters for Biden event, according to his Instagram account. He also took quick trips to Detroit and Phoenix to campaign for Harris.

Ford traveled to Columbus in May and Dallas in September for his own fundraisers.

His campaign said family members joined him on some trips, but they paid their own way.

In total, Ford reported $514,100 in campaign contributions in 2024, with some individual contributions of as much as $10,000 and others of as little as $10 a month. He reported spending $284,100, of which $82,100 was related to travel. Flights alone cost $30,200.

Burke said in a statement that with his travel itinerary, Ford has “made a mockery of public service.”

Ford’s campaign said that despite the travel, he regularly attended state meetings for boards on which both he and Lombardo sit, including the Board of Examiners, Board of Pardons, Board of State Prisons and the Executive Audit Committee. Those may be attended remotely.

Ford and Lombardo each attended 19 out of 21 meetings in 2024 for the state boards and commissions they both sit on, according to Ford’s campaign and confirmed by Lombardo’s office.

In a statement, Sims touted Ford’s record: “From winning record opioid settlements to protecting Nevada from federal overreach to putting child predators in jail and cracking down on human and fentanyl trafficking – his record is clear: fighting for Nevada without fear or favor.”

Burke said in a statement about Ford and his travel, “In any private sector job, he would have been fired long ago. Sadly, Ford thinks he deserves a promotion.”

A previous version of this story contained incorrect information about who attended the Kentucky Derby last year.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com and Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @jess_hillyeah and @MaryHynes1 on X. Hynes is a member of the Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing on reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.