# Nevada 2026 Gubernatorial Race: Where Candidates Stand on Technology, Surveillance & Data Centers

**Compiled September 5, 2026 · nvgov2026.org**

As artificial intelligence, algorithmic surveillance, and massive computing infrastructure accelerate across the Mountain West, technology policy has rapidly emerged as a defining battleground in Nevada's 2026 gubernatorial election. Three interconnected issues now dominate legislative hearings, municipal debates, and campaign forums:

1. **Flock Safety cameras and police surveillance:** The rapid deployment of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) across the Las Vegas Valley, largely funded by multi-million-dollar private donations through police foundations rather than traditional public budgets.
2. **Data center expansion and resource strain:** The explosive growth of power- and water-intensive data centers—projected by NV Energy to grow from ~5% of retail electricity sales to nearly 64% by 2046—sparking clashes over tax abatements, cooling technologies, and residential rate hikes.
3. **Data collection, privacy, and AI governance:** The statutory framework governing biometric tracking, student data, consumer location records, and state-level guardrails on algorithmic decision-making.

This analysis provides a nonpartisan, evidence-based review of the public records, legislative actions, campaign platforms, and public statements of the three candidates on Nevada's November 3, 2026 general election ballot: incumbent Republican Governor **Joe Lombardo**, Democratic Attorney General **Aaron Ford**, and nonpartisan candidate **Danielle Ford** (No Political Party).

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## 1. The Nevada Context: Critical Infrastructure & Civil Liberties

### 1.1 Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) & Flock Safety
In 2019, under then-Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) began utilizing Automated License Plate Reader technology. In late 2023, under Lombardo's successor Sheriff Kevin McMahill, LVMPD dramatically scaled this surveillance by partnering with private vendor Flock Safety to deploy more than 200 solar-powered ALPR cameras across public roadways and intersections in Southern Nevada.

- **Private Funding Mechanism:** Rather than passing through standard municipal budget hearings or County Commission appropriations, the Flock expansion was financed with approximately $6.3 million in private philanthropic gifts to the non-profit LVMPD Foundation ("Friends of Metro"), primarily from venture capitalist Ben Horowitz's family foundation. Civil liberties advocates, including the ACLU of Nevada, criticized this mechanism as a deliberate maneuver to bypass public transparency and legislative oversight.
- **Inter-Agency & School Access:** The Clark County School District (CCSD) entered an agreement allowing school police to access the Flock network to monitor perimeters around K-12 campuses.
- **National Data Sharing & Privacy Gaps:** Nevada currently lacks a statutory framework governing ALPR data retention, query audits, or cross-border sharing. Critics warn that unrestricted sharing could allow out-of-state law enforcement agencies to track individuals traveling to Nevada for reproductive healthcare, or permit federal authorities to access vehicle location data without a warrant.
- **2026 Pushback & Legislative Response:** In August 2026, the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus formally called for a statewide suspension of the Flock camera network until binding privacy safeguards are enacted into law. Simultaneously, CCSD paused its use of the system pending internal review, and the Nevada Legislature's Joint Interim Standing Committee on the Judiciary voted unanimously to draft regulatory legislation for the 2027 biennial session.

### 1.2 Data Centers: The Energy & Water Crunch
Nevada has historically utilized aggressive tax abatements through the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED)—authorized under bipartisan 2015 legislation (SB 170 / AB 74)—to attract major computing campuses, including Switch, Apple, Google, and Amazon Web Services.

- **Load Projections:** In its 2026 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) filing, electric utility NV Energy projected data center demand expanding from approximately 5% of total sales today to 64% by 2046, reporting 22 gigawatts (GW) of prospective data center inquiries and 6 GW under signed Rule 9 agreements.
- **Grid & Ratepayer Impacts:** Building transmission lines, substations, and generation capacity to meet this massive commercial load creates severe upward pressure on residential electric rates.
- **Water Consumption:** In the arid Mojave Desert and Truckee Meadows, traditional evaporative cooling systems for mega-watt facilities consume millions of gallons of potable water annually, intensifying strains on the drought-stressed Colorado River and municipal aquifers.

### 1.3 Data Privacy & Algorithmic Regulation
Nevada has enacted progressive consumer privacy standards (NRS 603A opt-out provisions under SB 220 and SB 260, as well as 2023's SB 370 regulating consumer health data). However, rapid advancements in generative AI, corporate data scraping, and student profiling have outpaced existing state administrative rules.

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## 2. Joe Lombardo: Pro-Law Enforcement Technology & Business Recruitment

Governor Joe Lombardo’s approach to technology and surveillance reflects his dual background as a 30-year law enforcement officer (including two terms as Clark County Sheriff, 2015–2023) and a pro-business executive focused on capital recruitment.

### 2.1 Flock Safety & Surveillance
- **Initiated LVMPD Adoption:** As Sheriff, Lombardo oversaw the initial introduction of automated license plate readers into Metro's operational arsenal in 2019, consistently arguing that high-tech investigative tools are indispensable for modern law enforcement to locate stolen vehicles, apprehend violent fugitives, and clear criminal warrants.
- **Defense of Advanced Police Tools:** Following the August 2026 outcry over Flock cameras, Lombardo's office issued a statement affirming his support for the *"responsible use of advanced technology"* to protect public safety, stressing that such tools must operate alongside *"strong safeguards to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of citizens."*
- **Opposition to Tech Bans:** Lombardo opposes statutory prohibitions or arbitrary operational pauses on ALPR systems, arguing that stripping law enforcement of automated scanning technology puts officer safety and crime prevention at risk.
- **Police Foundation Support:** Lombardo strongly defends non-profit police foundations like the LVMPD Foundation, viewing private philanthropic partnerships as vital community support mechanisms rather than circumventions of oversight.

### 2.2 Data Centers & Economic Development
- **Defending Tax Abatements:** Lombardo has actively supported the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) in approving statutory tax abatements for major data centers and advanced manufacturing campuses, arguing that competitive incentives prevent billions in capital investment from fleeing to neighboring states like Arizona, Utah, or Oregon. Nevada has awarded over $340 million in data center tax abatements since 2021.
- **The May 2026 PAC Contributions Controversy (The Lever Investigation):** In late August 2026, investigative outlet *The Lever* (syndicated on *The Cool Down*) published an analysis of Nevada campaign finance filings documenting substantial contributions to Lombardo's primary super PAC, **Better Nevada PAC**:
  - *May 11, 2026:* Artificial intelligence investor and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz (co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz / a16z) and his wife Felicia donated $500,000 each—**$1,000,000 total**—to Better Nevada PAC. Notably, Ben and Felicia Horowitz's family foundation was the primary donor behind the $6.3 million gift to the LVMPD Foundation used to deploy Clark County's Flock surveillance cameras.
  - *May 14, 2026:* Three days later, Governor Lombardo published a video on social media publicly championing the data center industry, declaring: *"I support data centers because they bring jobs, investments, and economic growth to Nevada."*
  - *May 21, 2026:* One week later, Jessica Roy—wife of Rob Roy, the founder and CEO of Switch (Nevada's largest data center operator and recipient of major state tax abatements, with Andreessen Horowitz as a major backer)—donated another **$1,000,000** to Better Nevada PAC.
  - *Lombardo's Defense:* The Lombardo campaign and administration strongly defended his record, arguing that data center recruitment is essential for statewide economic diversification and broad-based tax revenues. Lombardo dismissed accusations of donor influence as partisan attacks, pointing to his long-standing, public pro-business platform.
- **Second-Term Education Revenue Proposal:** In his August 2026 second-term platform (*"Nevadans Working Together, Building the Future We Choose"*), Lombardo proposed directing future state tax revenues generated by data centers and emerging technology enterprises into K-12 public classrooms to support teacher salaries and educational materials.
- **Market-Driven Energy Policy:** Rather than restricting data center growth, Lombardo advocates expanding in-state power generation—including natural gas peaker plants, utility-scale solar, and geothermal—to accommodate industrial growth without rationing energy or capping economic growth.

### 2.3 Regulatory Philosophy & AI
- **Regulatory Restraint:** Lombardo favors a light-touch regulatory approach to artificial intelligence and emerging tech, expressing concern that rigid state-level mandates stifle entrepreneurial investment.
- **Veto Precedent:** Emphasizing Nevada's "business-friendly" climate, Lombardo has consistently vetoed legislation imposing new administrative burdens or civil liability on commercial enterprises unless an immediate public health or safety emergency is demonstrated.

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## 3. Aaron Ford: Consumer Privacy Enforcement & Targeted Moratoriums

Attorney General Aaron Ford approaches technology through the lens of regulatory consumer protection, civil rights enforcement, and progressive labor alignment, contrasting his prosecutorial record with his former legislative votes.

### 3.1 Flock Safety & Surveillance Guardrails
- **Opposition Without Statutory Rules:** In late August 2026, Ford publicly came out against the unregulated use of Flock Safety cameras across Nevada, declaring: *"I do not support the use of Flock license plate readers unless the Legislature first implements stringent rules and essential guardrails to protect Nevadans' privacy."*
- **Gubernatorial Pledge:** Ford committed that, if elected governor, he will sponsor and sign comprehensive legislation in the 2027 session establishing binding restrictions on ALPR technology. Key planks include:
  - Strict statutory caps on data retention (e.g., 30-day limits for non-hit data).
  - Mandatory audit trails and transparent annual public reporting.
  - Express statutory prohibitions against sharing Nevada plate data with out-of-state entities for the purpose of investigating abortion access or reproductive healthcare.
  - Strict prohibitions against using local ALPR data for civil federal immigration enforcement.
- **Backing the Legislative Pause:** Ford aligned with the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus in supporting an immediate pause on the Flock camera network until binding legal safeguards are enacted.
- **Critique of Private Foundation Funding:** Ford criticized the Horowitz/LVMPD Foundation funding structure, asserting that democratic governments cannot permit *"private tech companies and wealthy donors to set the rules for public surveillance."*

### 3.2 Data Centers: Abatement Moratorium & Cooling Ban
- **August 2026 Policy Release:** Ford released a comprehensive tech platform establishing three hard policy positions on data centers:
  1. *Tax Abatement Moratorium:* An immediate freeze on approving new state tax abatements for data center developments until an independent audit quantifies their net cost-benefit to local infrastructure.
  2. *Ban on Evaporative Cooling:* A statewide statutory ban on water-intensive evaporative cooling systems for data centers, mandating closed-loop dry cooling to protect Nevada's arid water supply.
  3. *Mandatory Consumption Transparency:* Mandatory public reporting and transparent metering of exact peak-megawatt electricity demand and gallon-per-minute water consumption.
- **Campaign Attack on PAC Donors:** Ford immediately seized on *The Lever* / *The Cool Down* investigation, blasting the $2 million in PAC donations from Ben & Felicia Horowitz and Switch's Jessica Roy to Lombardo's Better Nevada PAC. Ford accused Lombardo of "putting billionaire campaign contributors ahead of Nevada families facing soaring electric bills and water scarcity," citing the contributions as direct justification for his proposed abatement freeze.
- **Revisiting the 2015 Record:** When pressed at IndyTalks regarding his 2015 co-sponsorship of the original data center tax break legislation, Ford defended his pivot: *"The data centers of 11 years ago are not the data centers of 2026. … The dynamics have changed."* He asserted that when an industry evolves from an economic driver into a threat to residential water and power affordability, responsible leadership requires reforming the tax code.

### 3.3 Consumer Privacy & Antitrust Litigation
- **Google Location-Tracking Settlement:** As AG, Ford co-led the bipartisan 40-state investigation into Google's deceptive location-tracking practices, securing a historic $391.5 million settlement in 2022 (over $8.3 million directed to Nevada).
- **Enforcing SB 370:** Ford's office oversees the enforcement of Nevada’s landmark Consumer Health Data Privacy Act (SB 370), restricting the collection, monetization, and warrantless disclosure of reproductive health data and biometric identifiers.

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## 4. Danielle Ford: Systems-Repair Outsider & Data Ethics Advocate

Nonpartisan candidate Danielle Ford (No Political Party), a current member of the Nevada State Board of Education and former Clark County School Board trustee, has made technology governance and privacy central to her campaign.

### 4.1 Surveillance & Technology as a Core Issue
- **"Most Consequential Public Issue":** In her official 2026 Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey, Ford identified AI, algorithmic surveillance, and technology governance as possibly *"the most consequential public issue of our lifetime,"* explicitly citing student data harvesting, automated decision-making, surveillance networks, data centers, and water/energy trade-offs.
- **Opposition to School Perimeter Surveillance:** Ford publicly criticized the deployment of Flock cameras on and around Clark County school campuses. Drawing on her four years as a CCSD trustee, she welcomed the district's August 2026 pause, warning against turning public schools into nodes of warrantless mass surveillance.
- **Constitutional Guardrails:** Her "Safe Communities" platform plank emphasizes that *"supporting police means building systems around them,"* explicitly demanding strict constitutional limits on local police surveillance, public bidding transparency for police tech, and restrictions on data sharing with outside agencies.

### 4.2 Data Centers & "Measurable Public Value"
- **Affordability Platform:** Under priority area 3 ("Affordability"), Ford's platform explicitly calls for requiring *"measurable public value"* and full, binding disclosure of water, energy, and infrastructure impacts *before* state incentives or utility connections are granted to data centers or other mega-projects.
- **Ratepayer Protection:** She argues that everyday residential utility customers are subsidizing the massive transmission buildout required by multinational tech conglomerates, calling for strict cost-causation rules before the Public Utilities Commission.

### 4.3 Student Data Privacy & Government Integrity
- **School Board Track Record:** On the CCSD board and State Board of Education, Ford consistently scrutinized vendor procurement contracts, voting against third-party educational platforms that collected student biometric or behavioral information.
- **Government That Works Platform:** Under priority area 6, she calls for enforceable guardrails against automated AI decision-making in public services, absolute bans on "disappearing-message systems" (such as Signal) among public officials, and enhanced whistleblower protections for state employees reporting tech vendor malfeasance.

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## 5. Candidate Comparison Matrix: Technology & Surveillance

| Issue Domain | Joe Lombardo (R) | Aaron Ford (D) | Danielle Ford (NPP) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Flock Safety Cameras / ALPRs** | **Supports use.** Initiated 2019 rollout; supports advanced tech paired with constitutional rights; opposes bans or operational pauses. | **Opposes unregulated use.** Demands 2027 statutory guardrails; supports immediate pause; opposes private funding bypassing public oversight. | **Opposes unregulated surveillance.** Welcomed CCSD school camera pause; calls surveillance "most consequential public issue of our lifetime." |
| **Out-of-State ALPR Data Sharing** | Supports inter-agency law enforcement data sharing to catch criminal suspects and stolen vehicles across state lines. | Demands strict statutory ban on sharing vehicle data for reproductive healthcare or civil immigration tracking. | Demands constitutional prohibitions on local police sharing resident data with outside agencies without a warrant. |
| **Data Center Tax Abatements** | **Supports.** Defends GOED abatements to attract capital investment; proposes directing tech tax revenue to K-12 classrooms. | **Moratorium.** Demands immediate freeze on new tax abatements until independent cost-benefit audits are completed. | **Conditional scrutiny.** Requires proven "measurable public value" and upfront cost disclosures before any subsidies are granted. |
| **Data Center Cooling & Water** | Prefers market-driven infrastructure solutions and utility capacity additions over statutory technology bans. | **Statutory ban.** Proposes statewide ban on evaporative cooling systems for data centers to preserve Nevada water reserves. | Demands mandatory water usage disclosures and environmental impact assessments prior to project approvals. |
| **Data Center Grid Impact** | Supports utility-scale generation expansion (gas, solar, storage) to meet growing commercial energy load. | Demands binding cost-causation rules so commercial data centers fully fund the transmission lines and substations they trigger. | Opposes shifting infrastructure costs onto residential ratepayers; advocates transparent utility rate reform. |
| **Consumer Data Privacy & AI** | Light-touch regulatory philosophy; favors private-sector innovation and cautions against burdensome state mandates. | Prosecutorial enforcement; co-led $391M Google location-tracking settlement; enforces SB 370 health data privacy. | Focuses on student data protection, open procurement records, and bans on disappearing-message systems in government. |

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## 6. Questions for Candidates at 2026 Debates & Forums

1. **For Governor Joe Lombardo:** *Given that LVMPD’s 200+ Flock cameras were financed through a $6.3 million private foundation donation rather than public legislative approval, should police foundations be permitted to procure mass surveillance technology without city or county commission approval? What specific data retention limit would you sign into law?*
2. **For Attorney General Aaron Ford:** *You co-sponsored the 2015 legislation granting substantial tax abatements to data centers. Now that you propose freezing new abatements and banning evaporative cooling, how do you respond to business leaders who argue sudden regulatory reversals harm Nevada’s economic diversification?*
3. **For Danielle Ford:** *You have called for requiring "measurable public value" before data centers receive state incentives. Exactly what economic or job-creation metric would qualify a project, and would you support retroactively revoking abatements for existing facilities that exceed water or power estimates?*
4. **For All Candidates:** *NV Energy projects data centers reaching 64% of total electricity sales by 2046. Will you direct your Public Utilities Commission appointees to mandate that data centers pay 100% of their incremental infrastructure and fuel volatility costs, rather than socializing those costs across residential ratepayers?*