He sponsored the data center incentives himself back in 2015. Now he's running from them.
A Candidate Who Can't Get Out Of His Own Way
Nevada Democrat Aaron Ford is having a rough stretch. The attorney general turned gubernatorial candidate keeps finding new ways to trip over his own record. His latest stumble involves data centers, and it might be his messiest one yet.
On Wednesday, Ford released a splashy campaign video attacking Governor Joe Lombardo over data center tax incentives. He called it Lombardo's “gravy train.”
The problem is simple. Ford built the rails and rode that train for more than a decade.
Back in 2015, as a state senator, Ford sponsored the very bill that created these kinds of incentives in Nevada. He wasn't quiet about his reasons either. In hearings at the time, he said the goal was to help Switch expand its operations in his district.
Data Center timeline:
📍2015: @AaronDFordNV co-sponsors data center tax bill, cites intent to benefit Switch “in my district”📍2015-21: Switch donates ~$25K to Ford
📍2026: dodges questions on his own bill
📍Aug: calls it @JoeLombardoNV‘s “gravy train” https://t.co/pBEVCHZU1s
— BrutalBrittany💕 (@BrutalBrittany2) August 19, 2026
Switch-affiliated entities later sent roughly $25,000 his way in campaign donations.
.@AaronDFordNV was for data centers tax abatements before he was against them. https://t.co/JzRX21bubO
— Victor Joecks (@VictorJoecks) August 19, 2026
Punched His Ticket: Lombardo Campaign Fires Back
The Lombardo campaign posted a video response on X through its account, Team Lombardo. The text accompanying the ad does not mince words.
“Aaron Ford authored the bill to give tax breaks for data centers, which included ZERO guardrails on their energy or water use,” the post reads.
“Now, Ford wants to rewrite history and lie to Nevadans. Unfortunately for him, the record is clear.”
The post links directly to the Nevada Legislature's own archive of the bill.
The ad also makes a point conservatives will appreciate. Joe Lombardo was serving as Clark County Sheriff when this law was written.
He had no vote, no sponsorship, and no hand in crafting a bill that Ford now wants to blame him for.
Aaron Ford authored the bill to give tax breaks for data centers, which included ZERO guardrails on their energy or water use.
Now, Ford wants to rewrite history and lie to Nevadans. Unfortunately for him, the record is clear: https://t.co/cI09QGdf0k https://t.co/Hz0Lebwl1O pic.twitter.com/vd03OWpQUq
— Team Lombardo (@teamlombardonv) August 19, 2026
The Bill Itself
The bill is Senate Bill 170, passed during the 2015 legislative session. Ford was one of four state senators who sponsored it.
It created Nevada's data center tax abatement program, offering generous property and sales tax relief to qualifying developers.
The results speak for themselves. Nevada has approved roughly $457 million in these abatements since the bill passed.
In just the two most recent years on record, sales and use tax breaks alone added up to $225.6 million. Fourteen data centers have received these breaks so far, totaling an estimated $461 million, tied to a promise of 313 permanent jobs.
In just the two most recent years on record, sales and use tax breaks alone added up to $225.6 million.
In return, the state's own economic development office projected the program would generate about $1 billion in new tax revenue. Data centers have also brought real investment to Nevada, with companies like Google and Switch expanding operations and creating union jobs in the northern part of the state.
Still, the state does not track whether individual companies actually deliver on their tax revenue promises once the abatements are approved.
Now, Ford says that as governor, he would:
“implement some of the STRICTEST rules in America and end tax abatements until companies prove they're delivering for Nevadans.”
That is quite a statement from the man who wrote the program in the first place.
Why This Matters To Conservatives
Ford spent months avoiding the data center issue entirely. Now, with early voting less than two months away, he has suddenly found his voice. That timing is not an accident.
Ford's poll numbers have been sinking, and his fundraising has been sluggish. When a campaign is struggling, sometimes candidates reach for whatever attack is closest at hand, even if it means contradicting their own record.
For voters who believe in consistency and honesty in government, that is a problem worth paying attention to.
A Pattern, Not A One-Time Slip
This is not Ford's first self-inflicted wound this campaign season. Just this month, he was forced to pull a television ad about police unions after facing a cease-and-desist letter.
Read our prior coverage:
Aaron Ford's Campaign Forced To Pull False Law Enforcement Ad After Cease-and-Desist
He also quietly added a fact-check page to his campaign website meant to push back on questions about his travel funded by outside interests.
On top of that, Ford is already facing a formal ethics complaint tied to the Attorney General Alliance, a group that counts Netflix as a lead corporate sponsor.
The complaint centers on more than $35,000 in international trips the group paid for on Ford's behalf. Around the same time, Ford accepted a $2,000 campaign donation from Netflix board member Susan Rice.
Then his office joined a lawsuit to block Paramount's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal Netflix was also bidding on. Blocking that sale knocked out Netflix's biggest competitor for it.
Taken together, it paints a picture of a campaign that keeps stepping on its own message.
What You Can Do
If you think Nevada voters deserve a governor's race built on honesty rather than convenient memory loss, share the facts about Ford's own record.
And when early voting opens, remember which candidate has spent this campaign season explaining away his own choices instead of standing behind them.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
