Joseph Michael Lombardo (/ləmˈbɑːrdoʊ/ ləm-BAR-doh;[1] born November 8, 1962) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer serving as the 31st governor of Nevada since 2023.

[8] The son of a United States Air Force veteran, Lombardo was born in Sapporo, Japan, on November 8, 1962.

[13] [14] One particular appearance has gone viral on social media a number of times, and was featured on the home video release "Cops: Too Hot for TV" [15] On December 4, 2013, Lombardo announced his candidacy for sheriff of Clark County to succeed the retiring Doug Gillespie.

[20] In 2016, Lombardo connected the Las Vegas crime increase to a California law called Proposition 47, which is meant to reduce prison overcrowding.

[22][23] He later disagreed with FBI director James Comey's statement attributing a recent spike in violent crimes in Las Vegas to a so-called Ferguson effect.

[30][32] Later that year, Lombardo's department issued a report recommending many changes to improve the police response to future critical incidents.

Lombardo defended the department's actions by releasing body-cam videos of the six engaging in "antagonizing behavior" and obstructing officers.

Lombardo eventually surpassed Heller by double digits in the polls[37] and was widely considered the front-runner by February.

[41] Lombardo won the Republican nomination on June 14, 2022, with 38.3% of the vote, defeating his main competitors, including Heller, Reno-based attorney and former boxer Joey Gilbert, and North Las Vegas Mayor John Jay Lee.

[7][44] On his fourth day in office, Lombardo signed two executive orders to remove remaining COVID-19 mandates and address workforce vacancies and wages.

By June 15, he signed SB1 into law, which authorized the funding and construction of the ballpark after it passed in the Legislature by a majority vote.

[55] In September 2023, the work vacancy rate in Nevada stood at 24.3%, virtually unchanged since Lombardo was sworn in as governor.

[56] In an attempt to lower the vacancy rate, Lombardo signed an executive order on September 18 that suspended certain minimum qualification requirements for state jobs for at least 90 days.

[58] In an April 2022 interview with The Nevada Independent, Lombardo said he supports the death penalty as long as there is due process.

In an April 2022 interview with The Nevada Independent, he said he would investigate whether education funds are being allocated appropriately on "day one" of his governorship.

[67][68]In October 2024, Lombardo expressed his support on social media for the University of Nevada, Reno's women's volleyball team boycotting future games with San Jose State.

[59] Lombardo originally decried Nevada's public option, calling it "political theater", but more recently has accepted that it will be enacted.