Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo known as his newly announced ballot initiative to dam transgender ladies from feminine sports part of his “game plan” to win his 2026 gubernatorial re-election bid, based on audio obtained by The Nevada Independent
At a closed-door occasion for supporters in September, Lombardo expressed uncertainty about his skill to inspire voters in a non-presidential election yr with no poll initiative, saying that in 2023 he narrowly gained the gubernatorial race towards then-incumbent Steve Sisolak by about 15,000 votes. Later, at an occasion in January, Lombardo stated, “I am not enough of a motivator as a governor candidate to get them off the couch.”
At an earlier occasion, Lombardo additionally touted the passage of a voter ID initiative in 2024 and stated that its reappearance on the 2026 poll — probably alongside his new poll initiative coping with transgender athletes — could be key to driving turnout.
“We’re going to do this thing called Men in Women’s Sports. I’m in the process of raising the money for this ballot initiative to get the signatures to qualify it and put it on the ballot. That’s going to get people out to vote, ” Lombardo stated in a recording at an October occasion obtained by The Indy.
The sports poll initiative — introduced final week — comes as Lombardo probably faces a aggressive race towards Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, with polling indicating the two are in a dead heat. If handed, the initiative would require the state and different entities that obtain public funds, such as colleges, schools or native athletic applications, to categorize every sport or competitors as male, feminine or coeducational/combined intercourse, and to ban individuals assigned male at delivery from women’s sports.
In order to qualify for the poll, the initiative will need to have at the very least 148,788 legitimate signatures throughout the state. The measure should even be handed by voters in two successive common elections earlier than it may be added to the state Constitution. It would create a carveout in language voters permitted in 2022 guaranteeing equal rights to all Nevadans no matter gender id or expression.
In current years, Republicans have more and more turned to poll measures associated to transgender points as a technique to drive turnout. In the leadup to the 2025 gubernatorial election in New Jersey and Virginia, Republicans campaigned heavily on trans issues in an try and win over independents. Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, spent 57 percent of her advertising funds on anti-transgender ads, though her bid proved unsuccessful.
Voters are additionally contemplating poll initiatives to curb trans entry to bogs and sports in Arizona and Colorado.
In a press release to The Nevada Independent, Lombardo’s marketing campaign spokesperson, Halee Dobbins, stated that “this issue is regularly brought up, so he has taken action to get this issue on the ballot in 2026. Governor Lombardo is eager to give Nevadans a chance to secure protections for women’s sports through the ballot box this November.”
Multiple research have discovered that poll initiatives are associated with larger voter turnout in each presidential and midterm elections, particularly with hot-button matters such as abortion access and LGBTQ+ issues, typically with margins massive sufficient to find out aggressive races. In 2024, Nevada Democrats succeeded in passing a poll initiative to enshrine abortion rights within the state Constitution. It will have to be permitted by voters once more in 2026 to develop into state legislation.
Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, the chief director on the left-leaning Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, stated that candidates use poll initiatives associated to transgender points as a “wedge” problem to entice voters.
“It’s primarily an try and distract,” Fields Figueredo stated in an interview with The Indy. “These are bad faith attempts to drive potential supporters to the polls at the expense and well-being and belonging of trans students.”
Although trans points consistently rank low on voter priorities, polling signifies that Americans have grown extra supportive of restrictions for trans individuals lately. A February 2025 ballot from the Pew Research Center indicates that more than 60 percent of U.S. adults favor legal guidelines that require trans athletes to compete on groups that match their intercourse assigned at delivery.
A May 2025 ballot from The Associated Press discovered that about half of U.S. adults approve of President Donald Trump’s handling transgender points — significantly on insurance policies regarding youth.
Lombardo’s initiative, nonetheless, has raised red flags from progressives and LGBTQ+ advocates who say that the trouble undermines the state Constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment, which was approved by voters in 2022 and broadly protects against discrimination. The group Silver State Equality called the initiative “discriminatory” and stated that it encourages adults “to police girls’ bodies and appearance.”
It has additionally confronted backlash from Lombardo’s Democratic opponents — Ford and Washoe County Commission Chair Alexis Hill — who raised issues about discrimination. Ford beforehand informed The Indy that though he doesn’t personally assist transgender athletes enjoying in sports that don’t match their assigned delivery intercourse, he thought the initiative was a “political ploy” to drum up assist for Lombardo’s marketing campaign.
Although candidates use poll initiatives to drive turnout, Fields Figueredo stated that it “isn’t necessarily how it plays out for voters.” She pointed to prior efforts to limit trans sports participation that failed, such as a 2024 ballot initiative effort in Colorado and the passage of abortion protections in Republican-leaning Missouri.
“It’s not apples to apples for them — ‘I care about abortion or reproductive freedom, and that’s going to translate to who I vote for,’” Fields Figueredo stated.
Lombardo has a combined file on insurance policies associated to transgender individuals. In 2023, Lombardo joined other governors in a letter to the NCAA requesting a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports, however later that yr, he signed a bill requiring well being insurers cowl gender-affirming look after transgender minors and adults. The transfer earned him praise from LGBTQ+ advocacy teams.
Two years later, he vetoed measures making a defend legislation for well being care suppliers who provide gender-affirming care.
Lombardo’s poll initiative comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers ruling in favor of states that bar transgender women and girls from enjoying on faculty athletic groups.
Nevada is amongst 21 states, 5 territories and Washington, D.C., that doesn’t have a state legislation prohibiting transgender athletes from enjoying on groups on the Ok-12 and collegiate degree that align with their gender id, based on the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ+ rights assume tank. The board that governs Nevada highschool sports, nonetheless, approved restrictions on transgender athletes final yr.
Audio obtained by The Nevada Independent of Lombardo Carson City closed door supporter occasion on 9/16/25.
Audio from Lombardo fundraiser on 1/2/26.