Retiring Rep. Amodei declines to endorse his party’s would-be successor
Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District was drawn in 1981 to be a Republican stronghold, and Democrats have never come close to winning it. On paper, the race should not be competitive, but less than a month before Election Day, it has drawn the kind of spending and attention that accompany a genuine contest.
The Washington Post first reported that Flippo’s campaign materials had repeatedly described his Bronze Star as having been awarded “for valor.” The distinction is significant: a Bronze Star with a “V” device — awarded for valor — requires bravery in battle, a difference, NPR reported, that “most veterans notice.” In a video from an earlier congressional run, a narrator with a booming voice described Flippo as “a recipient of the Bronze Star that he received for Valor.”
Flippo addressed the discrepancy at a press conference, apologized, and blamed a young staffer for mixing up language from an award his whole unit received. In an interview with NPR, Flippo said the language about his awards got “edited and convoluted” and that he “missed it” before catching it, but that it “worked its way back into” his materials. He said he accepts responsibility. “Look, part of leadership is taking ownership,” he said. “It was just an honest oversight.”
The question extended to Flippo’s appearance at campaign events. The conservative outlet Nevada News & Views first reported that Flippo was wearing the “V” on a ball cap alongside his Bronze Star, and a photo on his campaign website showed him with two bronze “V” pins. He wore the pins regularly at campaign events, including his primary night victory party. Flippo told NPR the pins had been placed there by his grandchildren. “You know if you’ve lived with grandkids, and you know, you kind of know, when you ask them to put those things on your hat,” he said. “Actually, answer me this. I do have another hat that’s just like it, because you misplace one or whatever, and that does not have any V devices on it, so and I was like ‘where did that other V device go?’ So, the grandkids ended up doing that.” The campaign removed the photo from his website shortly after the interview. Flippo chalked the controversy up to politics. “It’s just crazy what people are going to go after,” he said.
In a separate line of attack, Flippo had originally been running for a Las Vegas-area seat earlier this year. When Amodei announced his retirement, Flippo switched to the open northern Nevada district — roughly seven hours by car from where he had been campaigning. With the neon Reno arch behind him and a Trump 47 hat on his head, Flippo announced in a video that he was “all in” for the 2nd District. “This is a strong conservative district,” Flippo said in his NPR interview. “I was talking with the people that have endorsed me such as Turning Point and other organizations that are on the conservative side. The belief was that this being a conservative district we should get somebody that is more conservative in this seat.”
The carpetbagger label has featured prominently in voter conversations. “Even if he did receive a certain type of medal, but claiming it’s more than what he received, I’m not OK with it at all. And I don’t like the carpetbagging of him. You know, moving up here because there is a vacancy in the House,” said Jessica Simms, a Democratic voter whose brother served in the Marine Corps. Her father, Grant Sims, a former Republican turned independent, said he was hoping a blue wave would send a message.
Despite the controversies, Flippo won the Republican primary with Trump’s endorsement. In recent weeks, however, Republican super PACs have moved to defend the seat, reserving more than $1 million in television and digital advertising, according to AdImpact data. “They must have gotten a poll and had a five alarm fire at headquarters and said we have to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into that district to save this guy,” said Jon Ralston, a longtime Nevada political journalist and founder of the Nevada Independent. Trump won the district by 14 points two years ago, and while Ralston is skeptical a Democrat can ultimately win, he sees signs everywhere that Republicans are treating this like a real race.
On the Democratic side, the DCCC added Benitez-Thompson, a former state legislator, to its “Red to Blue” program, which channels extra party resources to competitive races. DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene praised her record of bipartisanship. “In the state legislature, Teresa was known for crossing the aisle and doing what’s right for Northern Nevadans,” DelBene said in a statement. “Against a scandal-plagued opponent who even Republicans don’t like, Teresa is the leader Nevada families deserve.”
At a recent meet-and-greet in southern Reno, Benitez-Thompson emphasized her lifelong ties to the district. The event drew voters across the political spectrum, from a conservative-leaning Trump supporter who asked Benitez-Thompson about socialism to a Democrat who complained she was too moderate. “This is home,” she said — an implicit reference to her opponent’s recent arrival. A former Miss Nevada, she is now raising four children in Reno. On affordability, including what she described as sky-high gas prices and expensive groceries, she told voters, “Look, when I talk about the fact that I’m in the middle of this with everyone I really mean it. No one has to give me talking points on the cost of groceries. I know exactly what a full grocery cart looks like. I know exactly what prices have been doing in the last year.” In an interview in her kitchen while making an after-school snack for her two youngest children, she said, “Literally if someone stands still for 5 seconds, I will talk to them. We have focused a lot on reaching outside our Democratic circle.” Even so, the district’s registration tilt — more Republicans and independents than Democrats — remains a steep mathematical obstacle for her campaign.
Affordability has emerged as the dominant issue in the race. Both candidates have addressed it. Flippo told NPR “the cost of living is not in our favor right now,” though he attributed elevated prices to short-term disruption tied to the administration’s confrontation with Iran. “I feel very confident that once this is taken care of, we’ll see gas prices go right back down,” he said. Benitez-Thompson has framed the issue as a reason to check the administration’s policies, including the trade conflicts and the Iran policy.
Flippo’s military service is a key part of his pitch to voters. In his NPR interview, he described several tours through the Middle East over a 24-year Air Force career, including time as a logistics commander standing up air bases in Iraq. “My whole career was spent eating the dust and dirt there in the Middle East and that’s why I have an understanding of what’s going on right now with Iran,” he said.
Campaign finance records show that Flippo has loaned $1.6 million to his campaigns this election cycle, a significant share of his reported personal wealth. He told NPR he recently sold his businesses to prepare for serving in Congress. “Yeah, it’s a lot, I’m not going to lie. But to me, this country’s worth it,” he said. Flippo’s campaign did not respond to requests for his financial disclosures, which are overdue.
A National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman characterized the Democratic investment in the race as evidence of misplaced optimism. “Democrats are ‘delusional’ if they think this race is competitive,” the NRCC said in a statement reported by NPR.
Amodei, who has represented the district for the past 15 years, sees it differently. “This seat is some kind of competitive like it has never been in the history since it was created,” Amodei said. “And you know what I attribute that to? I attribute it to the candidate and the way he’s run his campaign.” Amodei said he has heard from a lot of Republicans who are reluctant to vote for Flippo, and he is adamant that he will not be endorsing the man who hopes to be his successor. “It’s like, I’m not hugging this,” he said of Flippo. “I’m just not doing it. It’s not my last move walking out the door.”
No recent public polling has been released in the race, leaving open the question of whether voter concerns about Flippo have broken through broadly enough to overcome the district’s partisan composition.