Hobbs Wins Second Term in Arizona as Aaron Ford Unseats Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo

Democrats held the governor’s office in Arizona and flipped Nevada’s on Tuesday, adding to the party’s gains in Western battleground states, according to NBC News projections and results compiled by election data services.

Arizona: Hobbs holds on

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs won a second term, defeating Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, NBC News projected. Early reported results showed Hobbs with about 56 percent of the vote to about 43 percent for Biggs, with roughly 83 percent of the expected vote counted.

Biggs, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, had been endorsed by President Donald Trump. Hobbs first won the office narrowly in 2022.

Arizona counts many mail ballots after Election Day, so final margins are likely to shift over the coming days. Several Arizona ballot measures, including a voter identification proposal, were also still being counted, NBC News reported.

Nevada: Ford flips the state

In Nevada, Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford defeated Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, NBC News projected. Reported results showed Ford with about 52 percent of the vote to about 44 percent for Lombardo, with most ballots counted.

Ford will be Nevada’s first Black governor.

Democrats framed the race as a referendum on what they called the Lombardo-Trump economy, focusing on prices, tariffs and the 2025 federal tax and spending law, NBC News reported. Nevada’s economy relies heavily on tourism, which made tariffs a sensitive issue. Ford’s campaign also criticized an agreement Lombardo made with the Trump administration that could ease the way for more data centers on public land.

Lombardo had tried to distance himself from some federal policies, opposing certain tariffs while celebrating others such as the elimination of taxes on tips.

Why it matters

Nevada has now ousted its last two incumbent governors. Lombardo himself unseated Democrat Steve Sisolak in 2022 by focusing on economic frustration.

Both states are expected to be presidential battlegrounds in 2028. Governors in each state sign or veto election laws and appoint officials who help run elections.

The national picture

The two races were part of a broader Democratic advance that gave the party a majority of governorships for the first time in 16 years, according to NBC News. Democrats also flipped governor’s offices in Georgia, Ohio and Texas.

Developing: some details in this report are preliminary or unconfirmed and are identified as such in the text.

Sources: Associated Press, NBC News.