Two major party candidates to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei in Northern Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District had emerged after early primary results were unveiled Tuesday night.
Should they succeed in their contests, Air Force veteran David Flippo would face off against former Democratic Nevada Assemblymember Teresa Benitez-Thompson, in November.
On Tuesday night, however, former Republican Nevada state Sen. James Settelmeyer, was trailing Flippo by only 897 votes as numbers continued coming in about 10 p.m. Flippo had 40.8 percent of the vote to Settelmeyer’s 38.8 percent.
The Republicans split high-profile endorsements. Gov. Joe Lombardo and Amodei backed Settelmeyer, while Flippo received the coveted nod from President Donald Trump.
Trump had originally endorsed Amodei’s re-election bid before the congressman announced in February that he would instead retire at the end of his term. He has represented his deep-red district since 2011.
On the Democratic side, the Associated Press called the race for Benitez-Thompson who was ahead of her nearest contender, Robert G. Kidd, by 24.5 percentage points at about 9:40 p.m. Benitez-Thompson had 47.4 percent of the vote to Kidd’s 23.3 percent.
The AP also declared incumbent U.S. Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee victorious. Titus won 79 percent of the vote over Joy Hoover’s 11.3 percent, while Lee won 73 percent of the vote to James A. Lally’s 17.6 percent.
Titus will face off against Nevada state Sen. Carrie Ann Buck, R-Clark County, and Lee will face award-winning composer Marty O’Donnell in November.
Shortly after their victories were announced, the National Republican Congressional Committee put out statements congratulating them.
Rep. Steven Horsford automatically advanced to the midterms because no Democrat challenged him. He will run against Cody Whipple, who won the Republican nomination with 61.1 percent of the vote over Ronda Kennedy’s 22.4 percent.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
