By Ray Hagar, Nevada Newsmakers
Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill is mounting an outsider's campaign for governor.
She has a long road to victory. As a Democrat, she must first defeat Aaron Ford in the primary. Ford, Nevada's attorney since 2019, is the first African-American to win a constitutional office in Nevada. He also has a long public service record, serving as a state senator for six years before his election as AG.
If she can beat Ford, then she'll face off against incumbent Gov. Joe Lombardo in the 2026 general election in early November.
Hill admits she does not have the long political careers of Ford or Lombardo, who was elected sheriff of Clark County in 2014 and 2018 before winning the 2022 gubernatorial race.
Hill was critical of both for their "business as usual" approach to government.
"I am here to tell you that business as usual is not the right way to do things," she said recently on Nevada Newsmakers. "Yes, I've never served in the Legislature. I haven't been building up my career for 15 years to do this job. But honestly, I'm a pissed-off mom who really wants to see change in this state."
Despite their time in Nevada's governmental hierarchy, Ford and Lombardo are not solving Nevada's key issues, such as a struggling public education system or a crumbling infrastructure, Hill said.
"I'm looking to our leadership on both sides and I'm not seeing any solutions," she told host Sam Shad.
"Right now I can't tell what their issues are," she said. "There are no issues on his (Ford's) website. Our current, governor, he seems like he's still running against (2022 opponent) Steve Sisolak on his website. So I am here to propose real solutions. I think if people are frustrated -- which I'm hearing that they are. If they're ready for a change, I am the candidate."
Tax overhaul needed
Hill wants a major overhaul in Nevada's tax system. Taxing electric vehicles more would be one part of that. She notes that gas taxes have lost some of their value because of the growing number of electric vehicles on the road and the increased fuel efficiency of gas-powered cars and trucks.
Hill is highly critical of corporate "loopholes" in the current system.
"We need to look at a full tax overhaul, because there are so many loopholes that corporations are taking advantage of -- like buying up housing stock," she said.
Large investment firms and hedge funds have purchased a significant number of homes in Nevada, particularity in Las Vegas. An estimated 15 percent of single-family homes in Las Vegas are owned by corporate investors, according to various reports.
During the 2025 Legislature, state Sen. Dina Neal, D-NLV, sponsored a bill to limit the number of residential properties that corporations could purchase in a single year to 100. Yet the bill failed to pass after Lombardo asked Republican senators to drop it because of "technical" issues in the bill.
"We should tax them appropriately," Hill said of the corporations. "They are displacing our community members.
"Same thing with new people coming into town," she said. "I'm so grateful that people want to come to Nevada. And it is a wonderful place to live, as you and I know. But people need to pay their fair share, and that is not happening when people are buying properties that are fully depreciated.
I'm in a property that is fully depreciated and that is unacceptable."
Nevada, however, must not lose its reputation as a low-tax state, Hill said.
"We know that Nevada is a low-tax state," she said. "And I actually think we can stay a low-tax state and still stay efficient and lean on our nonprofit partners, our faith-based organizations.
"But we are so lean that we are facing major troubles that we cannot fix," she said, "like our streets. We cannot fund our schools. We cannot support our families in the way that we need to.
It is a statewide crisis, she said.
"I'm seeing it on a local level, and when I'm talking to local officials throughout the state, we are not an anomaly in Washoe County," Hill said.
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"So I'm hoping this message will be something that people actually want to follow and will believe in," Hill said. "I think Nevada needs to reinvest in ourselves."
The recent cyber attack on Nevada's state government, termed by state officials as a "ransomware-based" attack, shows our state government is understaffed and underfunded, Hill said.
"We have not invested in our state infrastructure in the way that we need to," Hill said. "We've got a skeleton crew and I certainly do not fault state workers, but we really need to see how we can reinvest in ourselves. Nevadans deserve that."
Transferable tax credits
If elected, Hill would revamp Nevada's system of awarding transferable tax credits to major industries that relocate to Nevada and meet the state's benchmarks to qualify for the credits.
She pointed to major industries like Tesla, which built its battery gigafactory in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRI) more than a decade ago. Tesla and other major industries like Google and Switch, collectively, continue to employ thousands of workers in Northern Nevada.
However, the economic successes at TRI and the jobs created has also led to a housing crisis of soaring costs for homes and apartments, clogged roadways and crowded schools, Hill said.
"The Tesla giveaways has kept our community members (snarled) in traffic," Hill said. "It has ensured that they can't afford daycare and they also can't afford the housing," Hill said.
"When I was knocking on doors this last campaign (for county commission), I spoke to a woman who takes the van to the Tesla Gigafactory every day. And she said she has three children living in an apartment," Hill said.
"She told me this is the first year she will not go on a family vacation," Hill continued. "She's barely able to make it, and she's very frustrated because she can't get home in time to be with her family (because of traffic).
"And so what I'd like to see is real investments in our infrastructure," Hill said.
The tax breaks the state gave to Tesla and other major employers that qualified was the correct thing to do back in 2012, Hill said.
But times have changed.
"I don't fault the folks who made that decision," Hill said. "I am telling you that, like our moms told us, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And that is what I'm seeing happen."
Nothing personal
Hill said she is not running against Ford in the Democratic primary for any personal reasons. Hill admires Ford, she said.
"I really respect AG Ford's career and service to the state," Hill said. "I am really grateful for the work that he's done. I have supported him in the past and he has supported me in the past.
"So it is not a personal issue necessarily," she said. "It's what I have been seeing, which is the Democrats and Republicans who have been successful in elections are not really running on issues that face everyday Americans or everyday Nevadans."
Expensive campaign
Hill estimated it would take a campaign war chest of about $1 million to $3 million to defeat Ford in the primary.
"Can you raise it?" Shad asked.
"I'm getting a lot of excitement," Hill said. "People are frustrated right now."
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