For Immediate Release
Reno, Nevada – (Thursday, July 16) Today, Teresa Benitez-Thompson’s campaign announced that it was significantly ahead in campaign funding. After comparing FEC reports, Elect Teresa has more cash on hand and raised more funding from individual contributors than Las Vegas resident David Flippo. Notably, Flippo’s campaign owes approximately $1,500,000 more than it has in the bank.
“This is a testament to the power of grassroots support and our community’s desire for change,” said Teresa. “I am proud to report receiving support from more than one thousand donors, with an average contribution of $163.91, including hundreds of donors from Northern Nevada. With our army of grassroots contributors we were able to outraise the Trump-endorsed candidate in both total donations and number of donors.”
David Flippo’s funding came almost exclusively from out-of-state political action committees and extremist politicians like Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. He has only six donations from individuals in this Northern Nevada congressional district, including right wing activist Robert Beadles.
This news of fundraising momentum comes on the heels of an independent poll released Monday showing Teresa leading Flippo in the race for Northern Nevada’s Congressional District (NV-02). National News Outlet Daily Kos covered the poll, noting it as a sign that outgoing Congressman Mark Amodei was right when he said that Teresa Benitez-Thompson could beat David Flippo.
“This poll lines up with what I am seeing and hearing on the ground,” Teresa said at the time. “Voters want someone who they know will fight for Northern Nevada issues and our families’ well-being. David Flippo has shown time and again that he doesn’t know the challenges people face in Northern Nevada. From focusing exclusively on Las Vegas water issues, to saying that Trump’s budget bill, which led to significant healthcare cost increases for Nevadans, ‘really helped’ us.”
Background
Teresa Benitez-Thompson is a longtime Reno resident. She and her husband are raising their four children in Northern Nevada and are proud to call Reno their home. Teresa is a licensed social worker, and former state assemblywoman who worked across the aisle to create change for Northern Nevada. Of the primary bills she sponsored, 87% earned bipartisan support.
Teresa earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada and her masters degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Teresa funded her education by waitressing and winning scholarships from the Nevada Women’s Fund and the Miss Nevada Scholarship Program. Notably, Teresa was named Third Runner-Up at the 2003 Miss America Pageant.
Professionally, her career started with finding adoptive families for children with special needs. Then Teresa moved to the medical field supporting terminally-ill patients, working across five Northern Nevada counties. She ran for the Nevada State Assembly in 2010 and spent 12 years there, rising to serve multiple terms as Majority Leader — the first woman from Northern Nevada to hold that role. After being termed out, she served as Chief of Staff in the Nevada Office of the Attorney General. Now she is running for Congress because Northern Nevada needs someone who will fight for our region to be an affordable, thriving place to call home.
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