Lynn Chapman says she's not a spoiler. Dems are still boosting her in Northern Nevada's House race.

If former Assm. Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno) makes history and defeats small-business owner David Flippo (R) in the deep red 2nd Congressional District next week, she will likely have Lynn Chapman to thank. 

When the Independent American Party candidate who calls herself "an unpaid citizen lobbyist" ran in 2024, she was "pretty much ignored as a candidate," she told The Nevada Independent in a Wednesday interview. Chapman still ended up getting nearly 20,000 votes, or about 5 percent, which "was fantastic for a third party." 

This year, she senses she is going to do even better. 

She's already earned at least one new supporter — the district's current congressman, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), who refused to vote for Flippo. 

As of midweek, Chapman hadn't talked to Amodei about his vote, though she left a message at his Reno office Wednesday morning. 

"I just wanted to say how sorry I was that the Republicans felt it necessary to kick him out of the Republican Party for standing up for principle," she said. "I've known him since he started coming to the state Legislature, so we've known each other for years and years. … He always made time for us. … He knows I stand on principle and I stand up for what I believe in, and I'm an honest person, so I guess that's what he was saying. I was really quite surprised, truthfully." 

Should enough Republicans join Amodei in backing Chapman over Flippo, Benitez-Thompson could win the district with far less than 50 percent of the vote. 

"People get a little angry because they say that I'm stealing votes," Chapman said. "I just laugh and say, 'You understand that stealing votes is a federal offense. Are you saying you're going to have me arrested?' Of course, then they laugh and say, 'No, no, no.' It's interesting, because even if I got 40,000 votes, who's to say they didn't come from my own party?"  

About 23,000 voters in the district are registered members of the right-wing Independent American Party, according to the most recent data. The party has shared leadership with the Eagle Forum, an advocacy group founded by the late cultural conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, which often runs candidates in rural races. Its president, Janine Hansen, also lobbies the Legislature with Chapman and is the aunt of state Sen. Ira Hansen (R-Sparks). States rights activist and rancher Cliven Bundy is a member, while Chapman is the treasurer of the Nevada chapter.

Chapman is not campaigning in the traditional sense, though she has been speaking with people about the issues. She has not reported any fundraising or campaign spending to the Federal Election Commission, filed a financial disclosure, or participated in candidate questionnaires or media interviews. She has had the same phone number at least since 2006, and her voicemail directs callers to talk to her before sending a fax.

Behind the scenes, Democrats are working to draw Republicans' attention to her. 

A publicly available webpage from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — set up that way to avoid running afoul of coordination laws — covertly instructed allies to do just that. The page, first reported by Axios, suggested "Republican women voters need to see ads on YouTube, streaming, and Meta" about how "there are three candidates in this race," including Chapman. 

It also stated that she "spent decades fighting for conservative values in Carson City" and is "campaigning on defending the Constitution, stopping illegal immigration, and fighting tax increases on Nevada families."

Nevadans for Sensible Government, a super PAC established this month, is spending $14,000 on digital ads against Flippo in the 2nd Congressional District and $6,000 on digital ads boosting Chapman, per an FEC filing. The group's treasurer is Susan Fisher, the retired GOP lobbyist who filed a complaint about Flippo's financial disclosures in September and confirmed her involvement to The Nevada Independent. Its listed phone number is the same as that of Hilltop Public Solutions, a firm associated with Nevada Democratic Party campaigns and candidates.

"I'm not sure exactly who everybody is, but I have my thoughts on that," Chapman said. "I think the super PAC is in place not so much to help me, but to help another candidate to split votes."

Another super PAC, Our Heritage Matters, first filed with the FEC two weeks ago and is running web ads in support of Chapman, calling her a "true conservative for Congress." The group's designated agent is Mike McCauley, who has previously worked for several Western states' Republican parties, though not Nevada's, and for multiple Utah Republican members of Congress. 

Its listed address is the same as that of the Utah state GOP. Our Heritage Matters has not yet reported spending in Nevada, though it has listed support for libertarian and independent candidates and opposition for Republicans nationwide. 

Chapman said she learned about more interference at church on Sunday. 

"Somebody came up and said, 'Oh, I like your flyer,' and I looked at her and said, 'What flyer?'" she recalled. "It was the same thing for everything. I seem to be the last to know. … I laughed, I said, 'At least the PAC got it right. They said Lynn Chapman, the pro-life candidate, she's fought for life for years or whatever. Something like that. I haven't seen it yet."

A mailer sent to a registered Republican in the district and viewed by The Nevada Independent touts Chapman for "working to ban abortion" and "making the sanctity of life her top priority." It includes the email address she listed publicly when she filed. It was paid for by American Forge Coalition, a dark money nonprofit targeting Republicans across the country. The same group has sent flyers attacking Flippo for failing to say Congress should ban all abortions. Late Wednesday night, money in politics expert Michael Beckel posted a document showing McCauley incorporated American Forge Coalition as well. 

As Vice President of Nevada Families for Freedom, the state affiliate of the National Eagle Forum, Chapman said she has gone to every session of the state Legislature since 1987, when she carried her daughter and her diaper bag to Carson City.

"I work on all issues," she said. "There's not just one or two or three. It's all issues. You know, land, taxes, education, guns, you name it."

At the federal level, she mentioned concerns about H-1B visa holders competing for jobs, as one in four unemployed Americans now hold college degrees. Gun rights are another top priority — she agrees with a conservative outlet's characterization of gun control being akin to "trying to stop drunk driving by making it harder for sober people to own cars." 

"I like being a third party," Chapman said. "I go to our state Legislature, I can work with everybody, and in Congress, I'd be able to work with everybody because for me, it is not about the party, because I don't belong to those parties." 

Given their shared time in the Legislature, Chapman knows the Democratic nominee. Does she agree with the pro-Flippo ads that have suggested Benitez-Thompson is one of the most left-wing candidates in America?

"I know she's very left-wing," Chapman said. "Anybody can look up her voting record and see what she did in our state Legislature. And her voting record speaks for itself. I did oppose a number of bills that she supported, but she's a very nice person. I mean, I like her. She's a very nice person, and so is Mr. Flippo, but I don't know him very well because he was not in our state Legislature and he didn't live here."

Who would she support if she had to pick between the two?

"If I wasn't running … if we didn't have a candidate, I would probably vote for David," she said. "Who knows? Or maybe none of the above. I don't even know if 'none of the above' are on there. I didn't look at that. I just saw my name and filled in the bubble. … I'm looking at who would stand up for America, and I believe David Flippo probably would do that more. But Teresa has done her work for what she believes in, too." 

On Election Day, Chapman has considered running away to go to lunch and a spa and forgetting everything else. Instead, she'll probably go to her weekly Bible study and do some work around the house. In any case, she's tired of all the "falderal."

"People vote for whom they wish to vote for — I tell people that I am not running against anybody, I am running for an office," she said. "I'm telling people, point fingers at your own party, because if people don't like your candidates, they're not going to vote for them."