YOUNGKIN TAKES NEVADA: Former Virginia Gov. Talks School Choice With Lombardo, Fires Up Las Vegas Rally

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin returned to Nevada Thursday, starting his day talking education with students and Gov. Joe Lombardo before ending it at what one longtime Nevada conservative activist described as a “raucous” get-out-the-vote rally.

Youngkin and Lombardo began at Founders Classical Academy of Las Vegas, a tuition-free public K-12 charter school in northwest Las Vegas. The two governors toured the school, met with students and discussed education policy before speaking with reporters. Photos from the visit show Youngkin and Lombardo alongside school leaders and Nevada Latin Chamber of Commerce President Peter Guzman.

They also heard from Daniel Reyes, a former student who credited Nevada’s Choice Scholarship program with helping him succeed in high school.

Education is familiar territory for both men.

Youngkin made parental involvement and education a defining issue of his successful 2021 Virginia gubernatorial campaign and later pursued policies centered on parental authority and school choice while in office. Lombardo has similarly pushed charter schools, open enrollment and other school-choice policies in Nevada, including opting the state into the new federal Education Freedom Tax Credit scholarship program earlier this year.

Lombardo’s administration has also pointed to permanent teacher pay increases, expanded charter-school options and new accountability measures as major pieces of its education agenda.

But by late afternoon, the school-policy discussion had given way to campaign mode.

Youngkin joined Lombardo at Stoney’s North 40 in Las Vegas for a Republican get-out-the-vote rally as Nevada entered the closing stretch of early voting. The Clark County Republican Party advertised the October 22 event as an effort to “energize” Republicans and boost turnout ahead of the November 3 election.

Nevada conservative activist Chuck Muth described the gathering simply: a “raucous rally.”

Assembly candidate Jill Douglass also highlighted the appearance after spending the day campaigning door-to-door.

“After another day of knocking doors and meeting voters, it was great to see Gov Lombardo, promises made promises delivered, with Gov Youngkin,” Douglass wrote.

The appearance marked another reunion for Youngkin and Lombardo, who campaigned together during Lombardo’s first run for governor in 2022. Back then, education was also at the center of their pitch, with Youngkin pointing to the parent-focused message that helped propel him into Virginia’s governor’s mansion.

NRCC spokesman and former Youngkin Press Secretary Christian Martinez tied Thursday’s visit directly to Nevada’s education debate, posting a photograph of Youngkin, Lombardo and Republican congressional candidate Carrie Buck.

“Education warriors in the Silver State,” Martinez wrote. “@GlennYoungkin, Gov. @JoeLombardoNV, and @CarrieBuckforNV are putting parents first and expanding school choice.”

Martinez then attacked Buck’s opponent, Rep. Dina Titus, accusing the Democrat of being beholden to teachers unions and opposing school-choice efforts.

For Youngkin, the Nevada swing provided another opportunity to return to the issue that helped launch him onto the national political stage. For Lombardo, it offered a prominent surrogate to reinforce an education message that has been a centerpiece of his administration.

And Thursday delivered both versions of the argument in a matter of hours: students and school choice in the morning, then a packed country bar and campaign rally before sundown.

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