'Oh shit, we won': Inside the perfect storm that flipped Nevada's only GOP House seat

The final two ads of the campaign that would make Teresa Benitez-Thompson the first Democrat ever to win Northern Nevada's 2nd Congressional District were filmed within 72 hours of writing them. In one, the 48-year-old former lawmaker and social worker serves burgers and fries, highlighting how she once worked as a waitress to make ends meet and would serve her constituents in office. In the other, she eviscerated her opponent on camera in a poker room. Both ads were packed with extras, who chatted and dealt cards in the background. Who were all these extras? They were campaign volunteers, roughly five dozen of whom said they would show up in the middle of the workday each time to help the campaign. On Tuesday, Benitez-Thompson, or TBT, inspired voters to do the same. She beat small-business owner David Flippo (R) in a district that retiring Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) won by 19 points in 2024 and that a Democrat has never represented.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.