Candidate · November 3, 2026
Teresa F. Benitez-Thompson
On the ballot for U.S. House · Nevada's 2nd District
- raised through Oct 14, 2026
- $1.1M
- cash on hand
- $182K
- issues with public statements
- 15
- outside spending for or against
- $1.9M
§1On the ballot
Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.
| Office | U.S. House · Nevada's 2nd District1, |
|---|---|
| Party on the ballot | DEM1, |
| Status | Open seat — no incumbent is running for this seat. |
| Also on the ballot |
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§2Who they are
Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Teresa Benitez-Thompson earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada and a social work master's degree from the University of Michigan.3 She worked as a social worker, first placing children with special needs with adoptive families and then spending about a decade supporting terminally ill patients.3 She served in the Nevada Assembly for 12 years starting in 2010, including multiple terms as Assembly Majority Leader.3 After leaving the Legislature because of term limits, she served as Chief of Staff to Attorney General Aaron Ford.3
Why they say they're running
Her campaign website says she is running to fight for families, her community and her way of life, in a Congress focused on health care, safer communities and lower prices for groceries, health care and housing.4 It also says she wants stronger representation for Northern Nevada and to push back against President Trump.3
Websites and accounts
- Campaign websiteelectteresa.com4
- Facebookfacebook.com/ElectTeresa4
- Instagraminstagram.com/ElectTeresa4
- TikToktiktok.com/@tbt_nv4
§3What they've said on the issues
Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.
Technology, Privacy and AI
Her campaign website says she would develop strong regulations to prevent mass job losses caused by artificial intelligence.5
Environment and Public Lands
Her campaign website says federal land sales should happen only with input from local and tribal stakeholders, citizens and conservation groups and not through budget amendments authorizing large sales, and says she will resist selling off public land.5
Her campaign website says public lands should be protected and managed in coordination with federal partners, and that federal funding for the agencies that manage them is critical.5
Her campaign website says federal dollars and grants that were cut or eliminated for wildfire response capacity and for flood risk reduction should be restored, and says a planned consolidation of federal firefighting could reduce prescribed burns and fuels reduction.5
Elections and Government Reform
Her campaign website says she opposes the SAVE Act and other efforts she describes as burdensome barriers to voter registration.5
Her campaign website says she supports expanding mail voting and early voting rather than restricting them.5
Her campaign website says she supports passing the For the People Act framework, which it describes as including redistricting reform.5
Her campaign website says she wants to overturn the Citizens United v. FEC decision, strengthen penalties for breaking campaign finance laws and require campaign finance disclosure.5,
- Limit spending by outside groups, including by amending the Constitution to overturn Citizens United
- Keep spending unlimited but require groups to name their major donors
- Keep current rules
- Raise or remove limits on donations to candidates and parties
Her campaign website says she would work for a ban on individual stock trading by lawmakers, executive branch officials and their families, with penalties for violators.6
- Ban members and their spouses and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks
- Ban members themselves from trading individual stocks
- No ban; keep the reporting rules, with stronger penalties for late reports
Her campaign website says she supports setting reasonable limits on how long members of Congress can serve.6
Health Care
Her campaign website says health care should be made as widely available and affordable as possible, which it says means defending the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid coverage of mental and behavioral health care.5
Abortion and Reproductive Health
Her campaign website lists protecting reproductive freedom through federal legislation among its health care positions.5
Foreign Policy and Defense
Her campaign website says military aid from the United States to Israel should come with conditions and depend on Israel following U.S. law and international humanitarian law, that future arms sales should also carry conditions, including Israel's compliance with the Ceasefire Compliance Act, that direct U.S. funding for offensive arms sales to Israel should be phased out, and that she supports funding for defense systems such as the Iron Dome.5
- Increase military aid to Israel
- Keep military aid at current levels, without new conditions
- Attach conditions, such as limits on how US weapons are used and requirements to let humanitarian aid into Gaza
- Reduce or end military aid to Israel
Her campaign website says she would support humanitarian aid on the scale the crisis in Gaza requires, including restoring U.S. funding for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees.5
Immigration
Her campaign website says the country needs a reformed immigration system that works, and not federal agents separating families.4
§4Money
Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left. Outside groups that spend on their own, without coordinating with the campaign, report that too.
Reported to the Federal Election Commission for the 2025–2026 election cycle, through October 14, 2026.7
| Raised | $1,054,467 |
|---|---|
| Spent | $872,618 |
| Cash on hand | $181,849 |
| Debts owed by the campaign | $50,535 |
Where the money came from
Outside spending
Groups spending independently reported $165,287 supporting and $1,701,411 opposing Teresa F. Benitez-Thompson this cycle, primary and general combined, in the 24- and 48-hour reports the law requires for larger expenditures, filed through October 24, 2026.8
| Group | Supporting | Opposing |
|---|---|---|
| Club for Growth Action | — | $633,770 |
| Win it Back PAC | — | $420,136 |
| NO GOING BACK PAC INC. | — | $337,500 |
| FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND | — | $278,316 |
| MAKE THE ROAD ACTION POLITICAL COMMITTEE | $68,775 | — |
| SEIU COPE (Service Employees International Union Committee On Political Education) | $49,796 | — |
| MAGA INC. | — | $31,689 |
| ONE APIA PAC | $20,000 | — |
Smaller expenditures that appear only on a group's regular monthly or quarterly report aren't in these totals, so the full amounts can be somewhat higher. When a group amends a report, only its latest version is counted.
§5Financial disclosures
Why this matters: Federal candidates and members of Congress must report their assets, income, debts and outside jobs, and members must report stock trades. These filings show possible conflicts of interest.
- Candidate financial disclosure report9filed May 10, 2026