Nevada attorney general Aaron Ford, the likely Democratic nominee for governor, is rallying behind diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, regardless of their unpopularity, as the Trump administration investigates the largest university in his state over allegations of racial discrimination.
Ford participated in an Aug. 11 African American Policy Forum event dedicated to brainstorming ways to maintain a “multiracial democracy” and argued on a panel that DEI is the way forward.
“Sometimes you are going to be doing things that are counter to political expediency, and right now, the diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation is counter to political expediency in so many people’s eyes,” Ford said at the forum. But I’ve never run from it. Won’t run from it. Not only because as Andrea [Joy Campbell] says, we have personal stories, but because it’s what’s the right thing to do, right?”
Ford will likely win his party’s nomination for governor, setting up a November 2026 battle against incumbent governor Joe Lombardo (R.) in a race shaping up to come down to the wire in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024 but went for former president Joe Biden in 2020.
Ford’s vow to defend DEI comes as the Trump administration investigates the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for race-exclusionary practices in its graduate programs, according to a March 14 Department of Education memo. More than 50 institutions of higher education have found themselves under investigation for similar civil rights violations since Trump came into office, and the administration plans to follow the successful “blueprint” that led to a $221 million settlement with Columbia University.
