Flippo, Benitez-Thompson to face off in November

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

David Flippo, a retired Air Force veteran, is projected to secure the Republican nomination in Nevada’s competitive 2nd Congressional District.

That’s according to the latest results from Tuesday’s primary in the Silver State.

Flippo will face off against Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson, in a seat left open by U.S. Rep Mark Amodei, R-Nevada. Flippo, who got 45.63% of the vote or 32,862 ballots, was endorsed by President Donald Trump for the state’s lone Republican-held congressional seat.

“I will join with President [Donald Trump] to fight for the hardworking men and women of our state,” Flippo wrote on social media.

Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts accused Flippo of using campaign funds to rent a personal home in Reno. Filings with the Federal Elections Commission show Flippo’s campaign made three separate payments to a real-estate company over a period of three months for “rent.”

Flippo said the rent payments were used for a campaign headquarters, not a personal home. Federal campaign laws do not allow candidates use to use campaign funds to purchase personal property.

Flippo received more than $463,000 in contributions toward his campaign for Congress.

The National Republican Congressional Committee celebrated Flippo’s projected win on Wednesday morning. Christian Martinez, the NRCC’s western regional press secretary, said Flippo will work to support Trump’s agenda and lower prices for residents in Nevada.

“After years of failed Democrat policies that have made Nevada less affordable and less safe, voters are ready for commonsense leadership that delivers results,” Martinez said.

Benitez-Thompson, former majority leader in the Nevada Assembly, secured the nomination for a seat Democrats are hoping to flip in November. She beat out seven other Democrats in the partisan primary election, with 46% of the vote or 20,231 ballots.

She has criticized Trump’s cuts to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and proposals to scale back the U.S. Forest Service’s presence in Nevada.

“The reduction — and in some cases elimination — of federal dollars and grants for wildfire capacity and flood mitigation must be reversed,” Benitez-Thompson’s website reads. “At the same time, the Trump administration’s DOGE-driven workforce cuts are hitting the exact federal workers who prevent fires from becoming catastrophes.”

Benitez-Thompson has received more than $82,000 in contributions and took out a $20,000 loan to aid in funding her campaign.

A Democrat has never represented Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District. The outcome of the election in November could have a significant impact on the partisan makeup of the U.S. House, where Republicans currently have a razor-thin majority. Democrats could take control of the House by flipping a few seats.

All of the House seats are up for election on Nov. 3.