Will Nevadans see a Lombardo-Ford debate?

Nevada voters had only one chance to hear a back-and-forth between both top gubernatorial candidates in the run-up to the 2022 race ultimately won by Gov. Joe Lombardo.

This time around, not a single debate between Lombardo and Attorney General Aaron Ford has materialized, even though mail ballots will start being mailed the week of Oct. 5 and early voting kicks off on Oct. 17.

Fresh off his June primary win, Ford proposed three televised debates. His campaign announced this week that the Democrat had accepted two concrete proposals in Northern and Southern Nevada, scheduled for Oct. 8 and Oct. 13.

Ford has accused the Republican incumbent of hiding.

“I have not heard a word from him, and I don’t think anyone else has either,” Ford told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday after a campaign event. “He should be able to stand before the Nevada public and explain his positions and the reason we’re living under a Lombardo-Trump economy that is causing our costs to go up.”

Ford added that he’s ready to defend his positions. “He should as well.”

Two days later, Lombardo told the Review-Journal that his campaign was working on its own proposal.

“We’re also offering a debate,” the governor said Wednesday, “and it’s just a matter of what the venue is and whether both sides will accept.”

Lombardo didn’t provide a possible timeline but said it depended on when both sides reach an agreement. Asked if he was willing to debate more than once, he said: “I can’t commit to that now.”

Additional information about Lombardo’s proposal wasn’t available. His campaign didn’t provide additional details.

On Thursday evening, Ford spokesperson Prerna Jagadeesh told the Review-Journal that the campaign hadn’t yet heard from Lombardo.

Both candidates have dodged debates in the past — at least against primary opponents.

Just this year, Ford ignored multiple challenges from Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.

2022 debates

In early 2022, then-Clark County Sheriff Lombardo skipped out on debates in Reno and Henderson with other Republican primary challengers. At the time, his campaign said he wouldn’t participate in one until after the candidate filing period that March.

That May, he faced off in a televised debate with four other Republicans. Like Ford did this year, Lombardo won that primary handily.

Lombardo and then-Gov. Steve Sisolak debated that Oct. 2, challenging each other on education, crime, housing and abortion. He unseated the incumbent by about 1.5 percentage points, or 15,386 votes.

Similar to last cycle, recent polling shows a close race for governor.

The latest Emerson College Polling survey, conducted in cooperation with KLAS-TV, showed Ford with 44 percent support, up from 41 percent in November, and Lombardo with 42 percent support, up from 41 percent in November, according to results unveiled Sept. 10.

The 2-point difference remained within the poll’s so-called “credibility interval” of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points, leaving the race a dead heat, according to Emerson Polling.