Democrats jockey for open northern Nevada congressional seat after Amodei retirement

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Mark Amodei’s retirement from Congress has opened a northern Nevada seat Democrats hope to flip — drawing a crowded field of candidates with backgrounds ranging from state politics to education, law enforcement and tech.

Teresa Benitez-Thompson

Benitez-Thompson has lived in northern Nevada for more than 40 years and has a background in social work. First elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2010, she later became Assembly Majority Leader and most recently served as Chief of Staff for Attorney General Aaron Ford. She hopes her three terms in the Legislature give her the edge.

Kathy Durham

Durham is running from Nevada’s eastern side and calls West Wendover home. She teaches civics, history and economics and has four years of experience on the Wendover City Council.

Gerold Lee Gorman

Gorman is on the ballot again after receiving a little more than 2% of the vote in the same race in 2022. He does not appear to have a campaign website.

Gamy Enriquez

Enriquez is a small business owner who calls his platform “unapologetically progressive.” The son of Mexican immigrants, he says he lost his job during the Great Recession and experienced homelessness, and hopes his story resonates with voters.

Matthew Fonken

Fonken is a former executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party. He also worked as National Field Director with Blue Wave America, focusing on rural organizing in red districts. He says he’s running to fight for health care and working families.

Johnny Kerns

Kerns is a former homicide investigator and true crime author who ran for state Senate in 2024. He says addressing the nation’s roughly $39 trillion deficit is a top priority.

Greg Kidd

Kidd, a tech entrepreneur who owns a home in Crystal Bay, is expected to have the financial edge. He ran as a nonpartisan in 2024 and is running this time as a Democrat. Kidd has degrees from Brown, Yale and Harvard, and says he’s optimistic given Amodei received 55% of the vote in what was considered a red-wave year.

Morgan Wadsworth

Wadsworth is a sixth-generation Nevadan and a 27-year-old set to graduate UNR this fall with a degree in political science. She says she’s running to confront corruption, challenge entrenched power and put decision-making back in the hands of Nevadans.