Democratic Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford did not seek a pardon for a pregnant woman’s killer, and he would have “unequivocally” voted no to any form of clemency or sentence modification, his campaign told The Nevadan.
Ford, who’s challenging Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo for Nevada’s top seat, is facing questions from the GOP locally and nationally for a clemency sponsorship that appeared on the Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners’ agenda on Sept. 16.
The sponsorship involves Norman Smith, who was convicted in 2015 for the manslaughter of Tinesha Adams, who was 16 to 17 weeks pregnant.
The sponsorship, however, wasn’t for the manslaughter charges, despite the Nevada GOP framing Ford as sympathetic to a convicted pregnant woman’s killer.
The Ford campaign told The Nevadan the attorney general took the sponsorship because Smith’s attorney sought sentence modification on an earlier robbery charge, which was supported by the prosecutor in the case. Smith’s mother, who is a teacher suffering from cancer, also asked Ford to sponsor his case, but Ford told her he couldn’t guarantee he’d vote in favor of Smith.
Under the Nevada Board of Pardons, an inmate’s pardon request cannot be heard without an individual sponsor from the board.
After reviewing the case and listening to the testimony, the campaign said Ford would have voted against clemency or sentence modification.
The attorney general, however, was not in attendance for the Pardons Board meeting on Sept. 16 and informed the commission 24 hours in advance he would be missing due to a family emergency.
Lombardo also sits on the Nevada Board of Pardons and according to state law, before a meeting “the governor may remove from consideration any application for clemency that has been selected for the consideration of the board,” — meaning Lombardo could have removed Smith’s application.
Why is the Lombardo campaign highlighting the item?
On Sept. 22, the Republican National Committee posted a video of a woman at the airport asking Ford about Smith’s sponsorship, to which he responded “Don’t know which one you’re talking about, but good to see you.”
When asked why Ford responded that way, his campaign told The Nevadan he had just landed with his wife after dealing with the family emergency, and that was at the top of his mind.
The governor’s race in Nevada is expected to be one of the most competitive in the nation—and Lombardo has been embroiled in controversies leading up to November. The Republican governor had bodycam footage go viral after he was stopped by a Las Vegas Metro Police Department officer. During the traffic stop, Lombardo interrupted the officer to say “I’m Joe Lombardo.”
Critics accused Lombardo of abusing his power to coerce the officer into letting him go without a traffic ticket—including Ford—who previously said Lombardo “absolutely abused his authority.”
Lombardo also faced an audio leak of him touting his relationship with President Donald Trump, claiming if it weren’t for their relationship, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be “walking down Las Vegas Boulevard.”
How is the Ford campaign responding to the ads?
The clemency sponsorship is the GOP’s latest attack on the attorney general, who has mostly avoided controversies this election cycle.
On Sept. 28, a PAC affiliated with Lombardo released an ad to publicize the sponsorship. The Ford campaign came out with an ad the next day to combat the negative media coverage, calling Lombardo a “liar” and that he’s “twisting the facts.”
The Ford campaign told The Nevadan Lombardo is trying to deflect from the current affordability crisis, pointing to the economic policies he supports from Trump.
The campaign also noted Ford voted with Lombardo 93% of the time on the Pardons Board, saying their votes are nearly identical.
“Attorney General Ford has made clear that he would have voted no on pardoning Norman Smith, and that submitting a clemency application to check on the progress of an inmate does not in any way indicate support for that inmate’s pardon,” said Prerna Jagadeesh, spokesperson for the Ford campaign. “Lombardo and his PAC know this, and are choosing to lie anyway.”
