Teresa Benitez-Thompson

Teresa Benitez-Thompson is the Democratic nominee for the open U.S. House seat in Nevada's 2nd District. A licensed clinical social worker who worked in adoption and hospice care, she served in the Nevada Assembly for more than a decade, including as majority floor leader, and later became chief of staff to Attorney General Aaron Ford. She has said her priorities include funding for SNAP, Medicaid, tribal communities and veterans.[2][3][4][8]

Benitez-Thompson was born in Ventura, California, and moved with her family to Nevada at age 4, according to the Nevada Independent; she grew up in Reno and is of Mexican descent. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan.[6][4][2] She was crowned Miss Nevada in 2002 and was third runner-up at the Miss America pageant, according to the Nevada Independent, which reports that she funded her undergraduate education in part with pageant scholarships.[6][4]

Before entering politics, Benitez-Thompson worked as a licensed clinical social worker. She spent five years helping with adoptions of children with special needs and then about a decade with terminally ill patients as a hospice social worker, according to the Nevada Independent.[2][6][8] She won election to the Nevada Assembly, District 27 (Washoe County), in November 2010 and represented it until leaving office in 2022; the Nevada Independent describes her as the Assembly's first Latina majority leader. The Nevada Legislature lists her as Majority Floor Leader from 2017 to 2019, with committee service that included Health and Human Services, Taxation, Revenue (vice chair in 2021) and Ways and Means (vice chair in 2019); she chaired the Government Affairs Committee in 2013.[2][3][4] Legislative work highlighted by the Nevada Independent includes advocacy for WC-1, the 2016 Washoe County ballot measure that raised the sales tax for school construction, and a 2017 law requiring insurers to cover 12 months of contraception without a copay.[6][4]

Benitez-Thompson did not seek re-election in 2022 because of term limits and later became chief of staff to Attorney General Aaron Ford. She announced her congressional run in 2026 after Rep. Mark Amodei announced his retirement, and she won the June 9 Democratic primary with 45.6% of the vote, ahead of investor Greg Kidd at 22.5%.[1][2][4][5][7][8] She is married to Jeff Thompson; Ballotpedia lists three children, while the Nevada Independent quotes her as a mother of four.[2][6][4]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.