Clark County Teachers Union Backs Lombardo While Survey Shows Teachers Prefer Aaron Ford

Nevada's largest teachers union has poured about $2 million into advertising for Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo's reelection bid, yet a survey of teachers found that a majority of those polled prefer Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford. The survey, commissioned by Strong Public Schools Nevada, found that 54% of teachers surveyed statewide preferred Ford over Lombardo's 31%. Among Clark County teachers surveyed, Ford led 52% to 32%.

Survey 160 conducted the poll from Oct. 14 to Oct. 15. It reported a general margin of error of plus or minus 6.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The statewide results were based on responses from 359 teachers who said they planned to vote in the governor's race. Independent candidate Danielle Ford, who is not related to Aaron Ford, received 10% of support, and 4% were undecided.

The Clark County Education Association endorsed Lombardo in November 2025. Its political committee, Strategic Horizons, has spent around $2 million on advertising for his reelection, according to state campaign finance reports. Strategic Horizons also reported contributing $220,000 to the GSD PAC, associated with the Republican Party. The committee is chaired by CCEA leadership and funded through transfers from the union treasury and contributions from the organization, rather than the voluntary payroll deductions that fund the union's separate political action committee for candidates, according to records filed with the Secretary of State's office and campaign finance disclosure reports.

A video advertisement paid for by Strategic Horizons shows Lombardo at a rally with people wearing CCEA T-shirts and holding signs supporting him. The CCEA attached it to a post on X that said, "A vote for Joe is a vote for educators!" Another CCEA post on X defended Lombardo in response to a post from Ford's campaign, writing, "Ford says he wants to raise funding per pupil to the national average, but has no plan on where he is going to get the funds. Ah, wait, he has the backing of special interest groups that support a plan that would raise property taxes and sales taxes for Nevada families."

Ruben Murillo, a former president of both the CCEA and the Nevada State Education Association and current director of Strong Public Schools Nevada, said in a statement that the CCEA was not speaking for teachers. "As a former president of the CCEA, I know the difference between speaking alongside teachers and speaking over them," Murillo said. "Unfortunately, the CCEA is speaking over its members by spending millions on Joe Lombardo, when most teachers know that Aaron Ford would be much better for our schools and our students."

Chris Giunchigliani, a retired Clark County School District teacher, former CCEA president, former Nevada assemblywoman and Clark County commissioner, also criticized the union's pro-Lombardo message. "Perhaps the CCEA should have asked teachers who they support for governor before spending millions of members' dollars to make it look like teachers are aligned behind Joe Lombardo," she said in a statement. "This survey confirms what we already know. Most teachers do not support Joe Lombardo, and neither should his union."

The CCEA represents teachers in the Clark County School District.