Nicole Cannizzaro
A groundbreaking, battle-tested leader
Nicole Cannizzaro is a mom of three, a lifelong Nevadan, a prosecutor, and the first woman to serve as majority leader of the Nevada state Senate. She is running for attorney general of Nevada to be the people’s lawyer and stand up to federal overreach. State attorneys general are one of the most critical lines of defense we have, and Republicans are desperate to take control of this powerful office in a perennial battleground state that Trump won in 2024. Nevada’s current attorney general, Democrat Aaron Ford, is vacating the office to run for governor, and Nicole is a tough fighter who can win this high-stakes open race and serve as a fierce advocate for Silver State working families.
Nicole joined the Clark County District Attorney’s Office in 2011, and she was never afraid to take on the toughest cases. Over her 11 years as a prosecutor, she handled hundreds of criminal matters, including racketeering and fraud, child abuse, sexual assault, and homicide. She was eventually appointed as the chief deputy district attorney in the Gang Unit, and has helped make Clark County a safer place to live. Nicole has served in the state Senate since 2016, and she has been elected by her colleagues in the first woman-majority state legislature in the nation to serve as Senate majority leader for four consecutive legislative sessions. Now, this groundbreaker is running for attorney general to fight for all Nevada working families, and EMILYs List is with her every step of the way.
A must-win fight for election security and Nevadans’ rights
Attorneys general have been front and center to opposing Trump and are key to shoring our state centers of power. Their importance has only increased: Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has sharply curtailed the ability of federal courts to issue nationwide injunctions, the only Americans who have legal recourse against the Trump administration’s illegal actions are those in states with strong Democratic attorneys general who sign on to lawsuits protecting them. They interpret and enforce laws that protect voters and ensure efficient and fair administration of elections. Crucially, they defend secretaries of state and state boards of elections in their implementation of state laws in litigation. If elected to serve as Nevada attorney general, Nicole will have the authority to provide legal guidance to local officials on how best to adhere to state and federal law, and to guard voters against efforts to undermine the electoral process in this crucial battleground.
Nevada elections are notoriously close and costly, and hard to predict because of the state’s diverse, working-class and highly transient electorate that is hard to poll. The number of registered Independents has increased dramatically in recent years, and they now outnumber both Democrats and Republicans there. Republicans have set their sights on the office of the attorney general in this open race, and Nicole’s opponent is sure to be heavily funded by special interest allies who benefit from the dangerous MAGA agenda.
A champion for Nevada working families
“As a former gang prosecutor, I don’t scare easy,” Nicole said. “I’ve taken on the big fights to protect reproductive healthcare, cut healthcare and drug costs, and go after corporate investors who have jacked up the cost of housing. I’m ready to take the fight to anyone who tries to make life harder for Nevadans.” Nicole won’t stand for a federal government that tramples on Nevada and Nevadans’ rights. She’ll fight back if Trump or Congress try to take away Nevadans’ access to healthcare, gut federal funding for K-12 and higher education, ignore the promises made to our veterans, or turn Nevada into a nuclear waste dumping ground. She will stand up for ordinary Nevadans who are subject to illegal discrimination, and she will vigorously defend election integrity and every eligible Nevadans’ right to vote. It doesn’t matter whether threats to Nevadans’ civil and voting rights come from in state or from Washington — she’ll be ready to go to court to protect Nevadans from having their rights infringed. At a time when state attorneys general are one of the most critical lines of defense against federal overreach, we need battle tested leaders like Nicole holding the line. Let’s show her our full, urgent support, and help elect this fierce advocate for Nevada families and our democracy.