Kamala Harris will campaign for Aaron Ford in Las Vegas next week, and it won’t be their first get-together this month.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Las Vegas on Oct. 21. She is coming to campaign for Attorney General Aaron Ford, the Democrat running for governor.
She also plans to meet with members of the Culinary Workers Union. Her office shared the schedule with the Associated Press.
While Harris is known for her cackle, Ford is getting known for a different kind of release. He is under fire for trying to help convicted killers get out of prison early.
The Release Record
In Nevada, the governor can’t pardon anyone alone. Those decisions go to a Board of Pardons made up of the governor, the attorney general, and the state Supreme Court justices. So Ford has a vote, and he has a record.
Ford sponsored a clemency application for Norman Smith, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for killing a pregnant woman in 2015. Sponsoring is what moves a case out of the waiting line and onto the board’s agenda. The board denied the request. Ford missed the hearing.
Read More: Aaron Ford’s Story on a Killer’s Clemency Bid Keeps Changing
The bigger picture is no laughing matter. A Fox News Digital review found Ford voted to grant clemency or sentence cuts to 30 people convicted of murder. One was a man police and prosecutors called a “thrill killer.” He became eligible for parole right away after a June 2025 vote.
Another was Arlander Givens, who beat a man to death with a cinder block. The board denied that clemency bid even with Ford’s support.
Lombardo Goes on Offense
Lombardo’s side is hammering this. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, a Democrat, is backing Lombardo. In a new campaign ad, Wolfson says, “Aaron Ford cares more about criminals than victims.”
One pro-Lombardo ad on the Smith case has racked up about 2.3 million views. Even Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, the Democrat running for attorney general, said she would not have sponsored the petition.
Outside groups are piling on, too. The Better Nevada PAC has spent the campaign branding Ford as soft on crime. Its latest post goes after the Givens case.
Arlander Givens killed his victim by beating him 15 times with a brick. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms
@AaronDFordNV tried to get him out of prison.
Ford puts criminals first and ignores victims.
https://t.co/FHgUWKbH9k #NVleg #NVgov https://t.co/Iqajb9fISJ
— Nevada War Room – Better NV PAC (@BetterNevadaPAC) October 15, 2026
Harris Has Her Own Record
Ford’s headliner has some explaining to do, too.
In 2020, Harris urged her followers to give to a Minnesota bail fund.
“If you’re able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota,” she tweeted.
That fund later paid $75,000 to free a man accused of rape while he awaited trial.
That same summer, Harris said, “We have to redirect resources” away from police.
And as San Francisco’s district attorney, she refused to seek the death penalty for a gang member who gunned down Officer Isaac Espinoza with an AK-47. Even Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein criticized that call at the officer’s funeral.
Her defenders say she never gave money to the fund and never called for getting rid of police. Still, when it comes to crime, Ford and Harris make quite a pair.
Old Friends From California
This won’t be their first meeting this month. On Oct. 5, Harris hosted a fundraiser for Ford in Santa Monica, Calif. That was the same week mail ballots went out to Nevada voters.
Ford’s big message at home is affordability. But he went to California, the high-tax state many Nevadans moved to escape, to collect checks.
Out-of-state Democrats, including Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have poured more than $1 million into his race.
That California tie shows up at the gas pump, too.
Nearly 90% of Nevada’s gas comes from California refineries, which run under some of the strictest rules in the country. Lombardo asked Ford to challenge California’s refinery mandates. Ford didn’t.
“Aaron Ford made his priorities crystal clear: he was more focused on securing Gavin Newsom’s endorsement than standing up to him to protect Nevadans at the pump,” Lombardo campaign spokeswoman Halee Dobbins said.
Republican attorney general candidate Adriana Guzmán Fralick put it plainly:
“What is needed now is a lawsuit against California to protect Nevada consumers.”
Ford blames the Iran war and Trump for high prices instead.
What Harris Is Selling
Harris laid out her pitch in a fundraising email this week.
“Now is the time for us to be ruthless in delivering for the people: on affordability, on fighting corruption, and on making our voices heard,” she wrote.
Look closely and you’ll notice one word is missing: crime. For a candidate fighting off soft-on-crime attacks, that’s a strange thing to leave out.
And Harris may not be the help Ford is hoping for. Nevada voters have already said no to her once.
In 2024, Trump beat Harris here by 3.1 points, the first Republican win in the state since 2004. Nationally, she’s still underwater. A recent Civiqs poll found 56% of Americans view her unfavorably, including 63% of independents.
Still, she hasn’t ruled out a 2028 run, and Nevada holds the second Democratic contest.
Democrats have released the cackle. Ford’s record may be the bigger monster. Nevadans have their say on Nov. 3.
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.
