Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters Jessica Hill and Mary Hynes revealed on Wednesday that Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford “spent one-third of 2024 out of state.”
Nevada News & Views’ “Deep Dive” podcast delves into the details. Click here to listen in . . .
Transcript (may not be 100% accurate)
Welcome to the deep dive today. We’re really getting into something interesting, how our top elected officials use their time and, maybe more importantly, whose money pays for it
when they travel. Yeah, we’ve got a pretty detailed investigation to look at today. It focuses specifically on Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford and Governor Joe Lombardo looking at their 2024
travel, right? We’re sorting through all these records, expense reports, campaign filings, you know, the works, to get a clear picture of their trips, both inside the US and well, sometimes way beyond
our goal here is really to understand the why behind it, all the scope, the purpose, the funding, especially when you see the top line numbers.
And those numbers, they definitely grab your attention right away. Let’s just put them out
there. They really do. So the analysis found Attorney General Ford spent about 137 days out of state in 2024 that’s, well,
it’s more than a third of the more than a third. Okay? And Governor Lombardo,
Governor Lombardo, his total came in around 30 days outside Nevada.
Wow. Okay, 137 versus 30 that is a huge difference, and that’s really what we need to
unpack Absolutely. And you have to remember the political backdrop here. Ag Ford is expected to run for governor in 2026
Governor Lombardo is up for re election next year,
so the timing makes this kind of scrutiny almost inevitable. Every move is under a microscope.
Exactly. Every Day Counts. Okay, let’s tackle that big number. First, 137
days for AG, Ford. I mean, that just sounds like a massive amount of time to be away from the state’s main office.
It is a significant number. And when you look at where he was going, it wasn’t just quick trips next
door, right? I saw the list. It’s kind of staggering the range it
really is. We’re talking major international travel. He went to France, Normandy, specifically. Now this is around the time the Paris Olympics, but his team made clear he wasn’t actually attending the games,
okay, but still France and where else internationally,
Singapore, Taiwan and Mexico, trips to both the Baja and Yucatan peninsulas.
So truly global and then domestically, too, coast to coast.
Oh yeah, DC, of course, Chicago, especially around the Democratic National Convention time and even a pretty long stint on Martha’s Vineyard.
Okay, so the immediate question that pops up for me and probably for you listening, is, who paid was state money involved in funding all this globetrotting?
That’s the first thing to get straight. And it’s critical the report is clear state funds were not used for Ford’s out of state
travel, not state funds. Okay, so where did the money come from?
It came from basically three places, his campaign funds, his own personal funds for some things, or these third party sponsoring organizations, yeah, and that last one that’s allowed under Nevada ethics law.
Ah, okay, these sponsoring organizations. Let’s talk about those for a second. Who are they and how much are we talking about?
Well, the report identifies four big trips paid for by third parties, adding up to around $35,000 35,000
and the groups,
key ones were the National Association of Attorneys General. People call it NAG and the Attorney General Alliance, or Aga.
Aga, wasn’t he leading that group? Exactly.
That’s the connection for a lot of this travel. Ford served as the AGA chairman in 2024 so trips to places like Macau and Singapore, Normandy, Tulum and Mexico, Taipei, they were often tied to his leadership role there.
Okay, so being chairman of the AGA basically requires a lot of this international travel representing the group. That gives some context.
It definitely does. But even setting aside the sponsor travel, his campaign spending on travel was pretty substantial. How much are we talking there? The filing show about $82,100 in travel expenses paid by the campaign in 2024 82,000 Yeah. And out of that, just over $30,000 was specifically for flights. This is at a total campaign spending that year of roughly $285,000
so doing the math quickly, that’s what almost 30% of his campaign spending just on travel.
Pretty close, yeah, around 29% it definitely signals where the priorities were for the campaign funds, at least a heavy investment in building that national network, that national profile,
rather than, say, focusing purely on in state ads or events. It’s a national strategy funded by donors.
That seems to be the approach reflected in the spending. Yes, okay,
so we know where he went and roughly who paid. Now let’s get into the why, how did his team break down the purpose of those 137 days, it wasn’t all just one thing, right?
No, definitely not. They categorize it into three main buckets. The biggest chunk 98 days was labeled
work related. 98 days of work. And what did that entail?
That was split further. About 65 days were for activities related to those bipartisan ag groups we mentioned, like AGA and an egg. Then another 33 days were for events specifically focused on prominent black leaders and organizations.
Okay, so that’s the bulk of it. The 98 days. What about the rest? Was there explicit political travel?
Yes, 23 days were put in the category of Canada. Pain related or connected to daga, that’s the democratic attorneys general Association. Ah, the partisan group, right? So this included fundraisers for his own potential run, like in Columbus and Dallas, and also campaigning for other Democrats, like President Biden and vice president Harris, with stops in places like Philly, Detroit, Phoenix.
Makes sense campaigning for himself and the party and the last category personal time, that’s
right, 19 days were marked as personal. 16 of those were out of state, and the campaign noted these were for things like, you know, visiting sick parents celebrating his father in law’s 90th birthday, real family obligations.
Gotcha. Okay, let’s zoom in on some of those work trips, because the details are pretty interesting. That trip to Martha’s Vineyard in August, for example, that wasn’t just a quick day trip.
No, not at all. He was there for two and a half weeks. Two and a half weeks, wow, yeah, attending something called the kaiores Conference, which brings together leaders of color. And he wasn’t just attending. Reports say he was on panels. Led a session called reimagining of legal strategy. So the argument is, this is high level policy
networking. High level networking, okay, but then you look at the expenses, right? The campaign
finance reports show nearly $12,000 spent at the Richard during that period.
The Richard, oh, that’s a pretty upscale boutique hotel, isn’t it?
It is. And spending almost $12,000 there from campaign funds for one conference definitely highlights the, let’s say, caliber of these work events.
It raises questions about the line between necessary work and, well, high end settings,
it does. And you see a similar kind of dynamic with the trip to Baja Mexico in November. What was that one for? He attended the black entertainment and sports Lawyers Association Conference. Now he spoke on sports betting, which is relevant to Nevada law good. But the location drew criticism. It was held at an adults only triple A Four Diamond resort, an adults only resort for a work conference. Okay, yeah. And the campaign spent over $2,800 at that resort, plus they made a $2,500 donation to the association itself.
I mean, you can argue coordinating on big issues like fentanyl or cyber crime needs national meetings, but attending a sports law conference at a luxury adults only resort paid by campaign funds, it creates a certain perception, doesn’t it?
It absolutely creates that friction. The campaign defends it by focusing on the policy substance, the need to collaborate across state lines. The critics focus on the optics, the setting, the cost.
It’s that core attention. And did his family travel with him on these trips using campaign funds
that came up the campaign confirmed family members did join him sometimes, but they were very clear, the family paid their own way, campaign funds weren’t used for their travel or expenses.
Okay, that’s an important clarification. So let’s pivot now, because the comparison is really what makes this story stand out. Governor Lombardo is 30 days out of state. What was the nature of his travel? It sounds quite different, very
different. Yeah, lombardo’s Travel seems much more tightly focused on sort of core gubernatorial duties and specific Nevada interests, like, what Where did he go? He went to Marco Island in Florida and New Orleans. These were for required meetings of the Republican Governors Association and the Council of State Governments. Standard stuff for a
governor. Okay? Association meetings? Anything else? Any fact finding, yes,
a key one was a trip to Orlando, Florida. He went there specifically to tour the bright line, high speed train system.
Ah, bright line West. Yeah, that makes sense, given the big project connecting Vegas to Southern California.
Exactly, seeing their existing operation in Florida is directly relevant to a major Nevada infrastructure project. It really underscores that focus on, you know, tangible state specific economic
development and the funding for his trips. You mentioned he had some sponsored travel too. He did,
but less than Ford, about $18,400
in sponsored travel was disclosed.
And what was that for? Still, RGA type things, some
of it, but it also included, interestingly, a trip to the main Cleveland Clinic campus in Ohio. Cleveland Clinic, why there? The stated purpose was fact finding related to emerging medical technologies. Again, you can see a clear potential link to state goals around health care and economic diversification in that sector.
Okay? And unlike Ford you said, some of lombardo’s trips were paid for by the state.
That’s right. State funds covered three of his trips, things like the bright line tour and a national economic security alliance event in DC, were deemed official state business. So state funds were used, which is standard practice for governors on official duty.
So we really do have two distinct pictures emerging Ford as this national organizational leader, lots of travel funded by campaign donors and sponsors, often tied to his AGA role Lombardo, much less travel more focused on executive meetings and specific state projects using some state funds for that official business.
That sums it up pretty well, two very different approaches to the role, at least in terms of travel patterns in 2024 the.
Here’s something fascinating. Despite Ford being out of state for 137 days, they both managed to keep up with their joint responsibilities here in Nevada, right?
That’s a really crucial point in this whole analysis. They both sit on several important state boards and commissions together, the board of examiners, Board of Pardons, commissioners, that kind of thing. And they attended most meetings. The records show they both attended 19 out of the 21 joint meetings held in 2024
even with Ford traveling so much.
Yeah, it really highlights how technology has changed things. You can attend these meetings remotely. Now your physical location doesn’t necessarily prevent you from fulfilling those statutory duties.
That’s a huge factor. It allows for this kind of flexibility, or maybe enables this level of travel, depending on how you look at
it, it definitely does. It decouples physical presence from participation to some extent.
Okay, so bringing it all together, we have the data. We have the context. What does it all mean? It seems like the interpretation is where the politics really kicks in, absolutely legally.
It seems everything was permissible under Nevada law regarding the funding sources. So the debate shifts to philosophy priority and well, optics and the
critics didn’t hold back.
No, they didn’t. The better Nevada pack, which is generally seen as Pro Lombardo, really went after Ford on this. Their messaging was blocked. What was their main line? They basically framed it as Ford, treating the Attorney General’s office like a part time job. They used phrases like he was vacationing around the world on someone else’s dime.
Strong words. They even said he’d be fired in the private sector for that much time away.
Yeah, that was part of their argument that this level of absence wouldn’t fly in a regular job.
Okay, that’s the sharp criticism. How did Ford’s campaign push back? What’s the defense?
Their defense was focused on the value of that travel. They argued that being Chair of the Aga, engaging with other AGS nationally is actually vital for tackling the big issues that affect Nevadans directly. Like what issues? They specifically mentioned things like fighting the Fentanyl crisis, dealing with cyber crime, combating labor and sex trafficking, environmental threats, issues that don’t stop at state
borders. So the argument is this, national networking is the work and it benefits Nevada.
Essentially, yes, they stressed he’s been laser focused on protecting Nevadans. And pointed to his record things like winning big settlements from opioid companies cracking down on predators, they argue that kind of success often comes from national coordination built through these meetings.
So it really boils down to this fundamental disagreement about what the job entails, or perhaps what the best way to do the job is,
exactly, is the primary value in being physically present in the state, day in, day out, or is there significant, maybe even greater value in being a major player on the national stage, bringing back resources and strategies from that engagement, especially when you’re leading a national organization like the Aga,
it’s a genuine debate. You gain national influence. Maybe bring back benefits, but the cost is that physical absence for 137 days and the reliance on campaign and sponsor funding sometimes in those high end settings we talked
about, it’s a trade off, and different people will weigh those factors differently. Okay, that
seems like a good place to wrap up our analysis, just to recap the core numbers again. AG, Ford, 137 days out of state in 2024 funded mostly by his campaign and sponsors linked heavily to his national AGA role Governor Lombardo. 30 days out focused on executive meetings, state projects, some state funding involved, and
both managed to attend almost all their joint state meetings, largely thanks to remote access,
right? So if we zoom out, thinking about the bigger picture here, it really does make you wonder, doesn’t
it? It does, given that ability to connect remotely for official state business, and given how issues like fentanyl, cyber crime, even water rights are increasingly national or regional, it poses a fundamental question for you the
listener, what kind of leader are you looking for in these top state roles today?
Yeah. What’s the ideal balance? Is it someone who becomes a prominent national voice, leveraging these big organizations to tackle cross border problems? Or is the priority having someone who stays closer to home focusing almost entirely on that in state physical presence?
There’s no single easy answer. Is there? It depends on what value you place on national leadership versus local focus precisely.
It’s something to think about what that balance looks like for effective leadership in 2024 and beyond,
a really interesting point to consider. Thanks for joining us for this deep dive.
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