Gov. Lombardo endorses Sam Brown in Nevada’s Senate race

Gov. Joe Lombardo endorsed Sam Brown in the U.S. Senate race, where a field of Republican candidates hope to win the primary in June to face off against Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in the fall.

In a statement Thursday, Lombardo said that Nevada leads the nation in economic development and job creation, but Nevadans still suffer from policies in Washington D.C. that drive inflation and debt.

“Sam Brown is committed to fighting to return more federal land to Nevada, securing America’s borders, lowering taxes, reducing crime, and ensuring our law enforcement and military have the tools, resources and respect they deserve,” the Republican governor said in the statement.

Brown is the frontrunner in the Republican Senate primary with the backing of major national Republicans in Washington, D.C. He ran for Senate in 2022 but didn’t make it out of the primary, which former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt won.

The endorsement of Governor Lombardo, the top Republican official in the state, comes as a blow to the many other Republicans in the race, including former Assemblyman Jim Marchant, former Ambassador Jeff Gunter and retired Lt. Col. Tony Grady.

Brown thanked Lombardo for his endorsement.

“As Nevada’s next Senator, I look forward to putting Nevadans first and working with Governor Lombardo to secure a better future for working families and small businesses,” Brown said in a statement.

Gunter called Lombardo a RINO, or “Republican in name only,” in a statement to the Review-Journal on Thursday. He recently spent time with former President Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, with Trump speaking at Gunter’s fundraiser on Wednesday.

“The good news is, the MAGA movement sees right through the fake supporters and like I told President Trump last night, I’ll be his closest ally in the U.S. Senate,” Gunter said. Trump has not formally issued an endorsement in Nevada’s Senate race.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.