‘Wave elections can do funny things:’ With Amodei retiring, can Dems flip a House seat?
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In today’s edition: Why Democrats think they can make a run at a seat they’ve never won. Plus: Canceled voter registrations, endorsement battles and new nonpartisans.
Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) surprise retirement announcement this month — and the many Republicans eager to replace him — has underscored just how quickly campaign season will heat up.
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Can a Democrat flip NV-02?
Democrats have never won Amodei’s safely Republican seat. But in 2026, they say they’re closer than ever and numerous candidates are said to be eyeing the newly competitive race.
The Cook Political Report rates the district as R+7 — but Democrats think that puts it well within reach. The seat is open for the first time in 15 years, and national polling (and recent special elections) shows Democrats well-positioned for the midterms.
“Open seats and wave elections can do funny things,” EDF Action Associate Vice President and Political Director Jack Pratt told The Nevada Independent.
That may be especially true with a new entrant into the race — former Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno). Now chief of staff to Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), Benitez-Thompson is well-liked and spent years representing the 27th Assembly District in Washoe County.
Read my exclusive story on her campaign, and watch out for more on the Democratic field later this week.
— Mini Racker
What we’re reading and writing
Birth of the Conine machine?
Ad Wars: Episode I
The Nevada Independent: Mark Amodei explains his surprise decision to retire from Congress this year
He’s 67 — basically a kid.
Sure is a funny coincidence the admin nominated a replacement the day before this hearing …
D.C. download
Nevada’s House delegation voted along party lines on a wide-reaching bill to overhaul election administration, with Democrats voting against. The House passed the SAVE America Act last week, but it has very little chance of clearing the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. Trump has advocated for changing Senate rules but there is little appetite to do so.
- The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, eliminate mail-only registration and require voters to present photo ID before casting ballots. It’s already become highly political; the Republican National Committee attacked Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV), who represents the Silver State’s most purple district, for her vote against the bill.
- “I don’t support it,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) told The Nevada Independent in a brief interview. “It would actually prevent so many people, U.S. citizens, from being able to vote in our state, and it is wrong. Proof of citizenship is not how elections are in this state or in this country.”
- “The SAVE America Act is an extreme proposal that threatens Americans’ freedom to vote,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) wrote in a statement.
- Meanwhile, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) helped push a successful ballot measure in 2024 to require voter ID. Voters must also approve it this year for it to take effect. The SAVE America Act would go beyond that ballot measure, requiring a passport or birth certificate in most cases, as opposed to just a regular driver’s license.
— Eric Neugeboren and Mini Racker
Indy ad watch
A recently released advertisement from the Democrat-aligned American Bridge 21st Century attacks Lombardo for the state’s high cost of living and his connections to Trump.
“Joe Lombardo said Nevadans need to feel a little pain,” the campaign ad asserts. “Joe Lombardo, he’s not for Nevada, he’s not for you.”
American Bridge did not respond to inquiries about how much was spent to air the ad and what platforms it would stream on.
But it indicates how Democrats plan to attack Lombardo, as his campaign apparatus has attacked Ford’s out-of-state travel.
— Tabitha Mueller
Reader question of the week
Reader Beth Brookfield writes in with a question: What happens to the money in Amodei’s campaign account now that he’s retiring?
After all, he had more than half a million dollars, more than ever before, going into election year. Besides donation refunds designated for the 2026 general election, money in the “zombie” accounts could go to previously incurred campaign costs, charitable giving, donations to other candidates or contributions to party committees.
Personal use is prohibited, though the Federal Election Commission does little to crack down on abuse. Late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and several other Nevada politicians kept their accounts open long past retirement.
Asked about the congressman’s plans, Amodei spokesperson Carrie Kwarcinski wrote, “We will have to return some money to donors following the announcement, so once that is reconciled, the Congressman will make those decisions. He has consistently used those funds to support other Republicans as well as charitable causes.”
Mini series
⚔️🏃Heated rivalry — Sen. Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) endorsed treasurer hopeful Assm. Joe Dalia (D-Henderson), praising his legislative experience. On Wednesday, Nevada Treasurer Zach Conine (D) endorsed his own staffer, Tya Mathis-Coleman. Cannizzaro and Conine are running for attorney general. Is the treasurer’s race effectively a proxy war?
- “Joe Dalia’s story is Nevada’s story — raised in a union household, educated in our public schools,” Cannizzaro wrote in her endorsement.
❌ Voter registrations canceled — The secretary of state’s office announced last week that more than 177,000 Nevadans’ voter registrations were canceled in 2025, either voluntarily by the voter or after they met cancellation requirements. These are voters who have been inactive through two consecutive general election cycles and have not voted or updated their registration during that period.
- Context: Republicans have long argued Nevada elections officials are not properly maintaining the state’s voter rolls. GOP groups filed multiple failed lawsuits in 2024 arguing improper voter roll maintenance.
- State election officials have defended their efforts, and Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) said the maintenance “ensures that all eligible Nevadans — and only eligible Nevadans — can cast a ballot.”
☀️Ray of sunshine — Elizabeth Ray, Lombardo’s longtime communications director, announced last week that she is moving to the incumbent governor’s 2026 campaign team. Ray, who worked on the official side for more than three years, was a spokesperson for Lombardo’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign.
- Drew Galang, former press secretary for West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R), will replace her. Josh Meny will continue to serve as Lombardo’s press secretary.
🏝️No party, no problem — As more Nevadans register as nonpartisan, some candidates are doing the same.
- Former state Sen. Becky Harris (R-Las Vegas), running for Clark County Commission District F, switched from Republican to nonpartisan five days before she announced her bid.
- Harris told The Indy she didn’t feel either party represented her and she’s gotten positive feedback on the change. “People are simply saying, I’m a Becky voter,” she said.
- Minddie Lloyd, who ran as a Republican for Clark County public administrator last summer, made the change before she announced her run for Clark County Commission District F in December.
- Las Vegas City Council Ward 6 hopeful David Marlon, an addiction advocate who previously ran unsuccessfully for several local positions, identified as a Republican in 2012 but made the public switch to nonpartisan in 2019.
👀 Trouble in paradise? — The state carpenters union has announced they are running Carpenters 1977 member Doug Candido against Assm. Jovan Jackson (D-North Las Vegas).
- Jackson voted against a film tax credit expansion bill during the special session, which the Carpenters had supported.
— Eric Neugeboren, Isabella Aldrete, Mini Racker, Oona Milliken and Tabitha Mueller
Looking ahead
- Tuesday, Feb. 17 — Assm. Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas) — state party chair and a member of the Democratic National Committee panel that will decide the 2028 early primary schedule — hosts a conversation with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Horsford
- Tuesday, Feb. 24 — Trump delivers the State of the Union address
- Monday, March 2 — Candidate filing opens
A post that caught our eye:
Politicians have the same airplane complaints as the rest of us.
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