After the Nevada Commission on Ethics postponed a hearing on Joe Lombardo’s use of government materials for campaign purposes, Lombardo will remain at the center of an ethics investigation through the rest of his campaign. After flooding his campaign materials with his badge and uniform, the Nevada Commission on Ethics is investigating Lombardo for violating NRS 281A.400(7) by using government property for personal gain. Despite being the sitting sheriff and centering his campaign on law and order, Lombardo continues to flout the law in his quest to do or say anything to win.

The Nevada Independent: Ethics panel to review Lombardo campaign’s use of uniform, badge in 2023

Tabitha Mueller

May 17, 2022

Key Points:

• Under state law, public officials and employees cannot use government time, property, equipment or other resources to benefit themselves or their campaigns.
• Since launching his gubernatorial bid, Lombardo has made his position as sheriff a prominent facet of his campaign. A campaign advertisement features clips of a sheriff’s badge, gun and Lombardo walking in a full sheriff’s uniform. A photo on his website displays him smiling broadly in full uniform. Photos of guns and badges feature prominently in a Flickr account linked to his campaign website.
• Much of the criticism lobbed against Lombardo for his use of these accouterments has come from Democrats who maintain that Lombardo is disregarding state law and abusing his privileges as a current officeholder.

Read the full story here.

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