The 2010 Nevada gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the Governor of Nevada, who would serve a four-year term to begin on January 3, 2011. Despite speculation that incumbent Republican Governor Jim Gibbons would not run for a second term due to low approval ratings, he ran for re-election. He struggled in the polls, and ultimately federal judge and former Attorney General of Nevada Brian Sandoval secured the nomination. Sandoval defeated Democrat Rory Reid, son of then-current U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who won his fifth term in the Senate on the same ballot.

James Arthur Gibbons is an American attorney, aviator, geologist, hydrologist and politician who was the 28th Governor of Nevada from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 2nd congressional district from 1997 to 2006.