Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s election as the state’s first Black governor marks a historic milestone for Nevada and for a large part of the country, where Black residents have faced generations of racial discrimination and political disenfranchisement.
Ford defeated Republican Joe Lombardo to become Nevada’s next governor and the first Black governor west of the Mississippi.
The state’s history makes the victory particularly significant, said Tyler D. Parry, chair of UNLV’s Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender and Ethnic Studies.
In the early and mid-20th century, Nevada earned the nickname “Mississippi of the West” as Black residents encountered racial segregation and discrimination in communities across the state.
Those conditions extended beyond Las Vegas and Reno to smaller Nevada towns, Parry added.
"There was always this notion of a very real and vivid disenfranchisement that Black people confronted when they moved to the state," Parry said. "The enactments of segregation didn't look very different from the towns and places that they left east of the Mississippi."
During the mid-20th century, several Reno businesses and casinos displayed “Whites Only” signs at their entrances.
The 1960 Winter Olympics at what was then known as Squaw Valley brought renewed attention to those practices, as civil rights activists organized protests and challenged local businesses. A year later, activists staged a sit-in at Reno’s Overland Hotel. Nevada ultimately passed a comprehensive Civil Rights Act in 1965.
Parry said Black political representation developed gradually in the decades following desegregation. A lack of resources in Black neighborhoods, including Las Vegas’ Historic Westside, continued to create barriers to political participation.
For Parry, Ford’s win represents a significant moment for Black residents in Nevada and communities throughout the West.
"The fact that this place, once nicknamed 'Mississippi of the West,' now has a Black governor, that means a lot," Parry said. "That means something. That means that things can change."
