(Reuters) – Republican Joe Lombardo has unseated Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak in Nevada, one of the few governors races in the country considered a toss-up between the two major parties’ candidates, Edison Research projected on Friday.
Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff and a former soldier, ran on supporting law enforcement and cutting government spending. Sisolak emphasized protecting abortion.
Unlike many of the unsuccessful Republican candidates for governor in presidential battleground states this year, Lombardo has rejected former Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
However, Lombardo called it an “honor” when he received Trump’s endorsement in May, and his campaign released a statement in October calling Trump a “great president” and praising Trump’s immigration, fiscal and energy policies.
Sisolak’s re-election campaign emphasized protecting access to abortions, education, expanded child care and affordable housing.
Both campaigns had stayed largely silent as vote counting continued throughout the week.
Nevada law requires officials to count mail ballots received by Friday, so long as they were postmarked by Tuesday’s Election Day. Voters whose ballots were rejected have until Monday to remedy the error.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Alistair Bell and William Mallard)
