Benitez-Thompson flips Sparks-area CD2 seat in historic win

Teresa Benitez-Thompson will represent Sparks, Spanish Springs and Sun Valley in Congress after winning Nevada's Congressional District 2 on Nov. 3, according to unofficial vote totals.

No Democrat had ever won the seat. CD2 has been represented by a Republican since the district was established in the 1980s, and more Republicans are registered there than Democrats, according to KOLO. Donald Trump carried the district by 14 points, KUNR reported.

Benitez-Thompson learned her race against Republican David Flippo was called at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, KOLO reported. She won decisively in a contest political pundits gave her no chance of winning.

"I did not just sit around," Benitez-Thompson told KOLO. "I did what I always do. I put my head down every day and did the work. And I had conversations."

She said she traveled throughout one of the largest districts in Congress based on miles, talking to anyone who wanted to share their challenges. Benitez-Thompson, a mother of four, said those conversations about the economy hit close to home.

"You don't need to tell me what groceries cost," she said. "I don't need talking points on groceries. When I bought three gallons of milk on my grocery store run this week at my local grocery store, that gallon of milk was over $7.00."

Cost of living tops her agenda

Benitez-Thompson said she and her Democratic colleagues received their marching orders from voters on Election Day: lower the cost of living for people struggling to make ends meet.

She said she is concerned about SNAP benefits, the federal food assistance program, that she said many Nevadans will lose in early 2027. She also pointed to insurance premiums and co-pays, saying many in her district will go without healthcare because it is too expensive.

At the Washoe County Democrats' watch party on election night, Benitez-Thompson told KUNR that Congress should focus on affordability. She said her first tasks would be to stop tariffs and secure funding for rural maternal health care.

She heads to Washington, D.C., for orientation. She described herself as a policy wonk and said she is eager to dig into proposed legislation and assess how it will affect her constituents.

Intraparty rift preceded the upset

The race played out against an unusual backdrop. Outgoing Republican Rep. Mark Amodei publicly said he would not vote for Flippo, his party's nominee to replace him. Amodei's office confirmed he voted for Independent American Party candidate Lynn Chapman instead, 2News reported.

The Washoe County Republican Central Committee voted unanimously to no longer recognize Amodei as a Republican, according to Bruce Parks, the Washoe GOP chairman.

Political scientist weighs in on margin

Dr. Jeremy Gelman, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno, told KOLO the result reflects broad voter frustration.

"This district is drawn to be a Republican gerrymander, and the fact that Teresa Benitez-Thompson won, but also won by a lot, I think has a lot to say about how the night went," Gelman said.

He cautioned that the new Congress will still need to work with the president to pass legislation, since Democrats lack a two-thirds supermajority.

Benitez-Thompson said she plans to represent everyone in the district, whether they voted for her or not.