Joe Lombardo

Joseph Michael Lombardo (born November 8, 1962) is an American politician and law enforcement officer serving as the 31st governor of Nevada since January 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 17th sheriff of Clark County from 2015 to 2023.

Born in Japan, Lombardo moved to Las Vegas in 1976 and holds degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He served in the United States Army before becoming an officer in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in 1988. He was elected sheriff in 2014 and reelected in 2018. He won the Republican nomination for governor of Nevada in 2022 and defeated incumbent Democratic governor Steve Sisolak in the general election.

Early life and education

The son of a United States Air Force veteran, Lombardo was born in Sapporo, Japan, on November 8, 1962. He lived in Japan for over a decade before moving to Las Vegas in 1976. Lombardo graduated from Rancho High School in 1980.

Lombardo attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from which he received a bachelor of science in civil engineering and a master of science in crisis management. He also completed the 227th session of the FBI National Academy in 2006.

Early career

Military service

Lombardo joined the United States Army after graduating from high school in 1980. During his time in the Army, he served in the Nevada National Guard and in the United States Army Reserve. He ended his military service in 1986.

Law enforcement career

Lombardo joined the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as an officer in 1988. He rose through the ranks, becoming a sergeant in 1996, a lieutenant in 2001, and a captain in 2006. He was promoted to assistant sheriff in 2011.

As assistant sheriff, Lombardo was in charge of the law enforcement services group, which included the department's divisions in charge of technical services, information technology, radio systems and professional standards.

Lombardo also sat on the board of directors of the LVMPD Foundation from 2007 to 2014. He retired from the police force after 26 years of service and stepped down from the foundation's board of directors in 2014 after being elected sheriff.

Lombardo had made appearances on the TV show ''Cops'' during the early 2000s.

Sheriff of Clark County

First term (2015–2019)

On December 4, 2013, Lombardo announced his candidacy for sheriff of Clark County to succeed the retiring Doug Gillespie. He won the primary election and narrowly defeated the Democratic nominee, retired LVMPD captain Larry Burns, in the November 4 general election. Lombardo took office on January 5, 2015. As sheriff he was head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the combined law enforcement agency of Las Vegas and Clark County and Nevada's largest law enforcement agency, overseeing more than 5,000 officers.

After becoming sheriff, Lombardo began the decentralization of LVMPD's detective operations, shifting detective operations from centralized crime-specific units to distribution of detectives throughout eight geographic commands.

In 2016, Lombardo connected the Las Vegas crime increase to a California law called Proposition 47, which is meant to reduce prison overcrowding. Later that year, he responded to questions about a recent spike of violent crimes in Las Vegas, saying that the surge "keeps me up at night". 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. In December 2016, Lombardo supported a high-capacity magazine ban, a call supported by the ''Las Vegas Sun'' editorial board. By February 2017, Lombardo had concluded that the number of homicides in Las Vegas increased by an average of 20 each year.

Following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting at Mandalay Bay and Route 91 Harvest, in which fifty-nine people were killed and 527 were injured—the deadliest mass shooting in the modern history of the United States—Lombardo oversaw the investigation into the shooting and into the perpetrator Stephen Paddock.

In September 2017, following the arrest of Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett in Las Vegas, Lombardo dismissed Bennett's accusations that two police officers who arrested him used excessive force and made vulgar threats, claiming video evidence of the arrest did not align with Bennett's accusations.

Second term (2019–2023)

Lombardo was reelected during the 2018 primary election with 73% of the vote. He defeated four challengers in the primary election. He was sworn in to a second term on January 4, 2019, and during the ceremony touted an expansion of the LVMPD's staff levels during his tenure (an increase of more than 900 officers and 280 corrections officers). Later that year Lombardo's department issued a report recommending many changes to improve the police response to future critical incidents.

During the George Floyd protests in mid-2020, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrested at least six people observing a protest along the Las Vegas Strip. Governor Steve Sisolak called for an investigation. Lombardo defended the Department's actions by releasing body-cam videos of the six induvials engaging in "antagonizing behavior" and obstructing officers.

As sheriff, Lombardo made an annual salary of $161,000.

In lieu of running for a third term, Lombardo successfully ran for governor of Nevada in 2022. He was replaced by LVMPD undersheriff Kevin McMahill.

Governor of Nevada

2022 election

Lombardo announced his candidacy for governor of Nevada on June 28, 2021, to challenge incumbent governor Steve Sisolak in the 2022 election. Early on, he was widely considered the front-runner. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Lombardo in April 2022. Lombardo won the Republican nomination on June 14, 2022, with 38.3% of the vote, defeating 11 other candidates, including Reno-based attorney and former boxer Joey Gilbert and former U.S. Senator Dean Heller. On November 12, 2022, several days after election day, Lombardo was projected to win, having narrowly defeated Sisolak by roughly 16,000 votes in the general election.

Tenure

Lombardo was sworn in on January 2, 2023, the same day Cisco Aguilar became Nevada Secretary of State and Andy Matthews became Nevada State Controller. On his fourth day in office, Lombardo signed two executive orders to remove remaining COVID-19 mandates and address workforce vacancies and wages.

In January 2023, Lombardo cited the inclement weather conditions as a result of the 2022–23 winter season to enforce motor carrier restrictions on the delivery of propane, calling it a "propane delivery emergency", and saying that it was to ensure "Nevadans have access to adequate propane supplies". On January 10, Lombardo ordered officials in Washoe, Carson, Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties to close all government offices after the Nevada Department of Transportation warned about dangerous road conditions along with worsening weather.

In his first two weeks in office, Lombardo made three appointments; he appointed James Dzurenda, former director of the Nevada Department of Corrections to again serve as director; appointed Kirk Hendrick, a Las Vegas-based attorney, to serve on the Nevada Gaming Control Board; and appointed Christopher Sewell to serve as chairman of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation, where he was previously serving as deputy director.

Electoral history

Personal life

Lombardo was divorced and has one child from his previous marriage. He married Donna Alderson, a commercial real estate broker, in 2015.

Lombardo is Catholic. In his spare time, he is an off-road racer in the SCORE International racing series.Racers from 41 States, 18 countries–51st SCORE Baja 1000
SCORE International (November 12, 2018).

References

External links

Governor Joe Lombardo
official government website

Joe Lombardo for Governor
campaign website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Joe
1962 births
American gun control activists
American people of Italian descent
American politicians of Italian descent
Republican Party governors of Nevada
Living people
Nevada sheriffs
Politicians from Las Vegas
University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni