Teresa
Benitez-Thompson

Teresa Benitez-Thompson is a longtime Nevada state representative with a proven track record defending our public lands, holding big polluters accountable, and investing in clean energy as a solution for both the economy and the climate crisis.

Benitez-Thompson began her career helping organize for the Nevada Empowered Woman’s Project. After winning the Miss Nevada pageant, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno followed by her master’s at University of Michigan. Her professional career began as a social worker, supporting adoptions, special needs children, and terminally ill patients. In 2010, Benitez-Thompson took her passions for social justice to the Nevada State Assembly, serving for 12 years, broadening Nevada’s renewable energy profile and breaking down barriers to voting and mail-in ballots. She has since worked for the state’s Attorney General office, leading litigation efforts combating the Trump administration’s illegal actions, particularly clean energy investments awarded from the Inflation Reduction Act.

As a representative, Benitez-Thompson will fight to restore funding for clean energy projects that protect our environment while creating local jobs and commit to protecting Nevada’s federal lands to public use and ownership. During her service in the Nevada State Assembly, she earned a 95% lifetime score from the Nevada Conservation League.

Benitez-Thompson joins the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the seat of retiring Representative Mark Amodei, who earned a 6% lifetime score on LCV’s National Environmental Scorecard.

“I’m proud to have supported many measures over the years that address climate change and its impacts on people, from incentives for solar power and electric vehicles to progressively increasing Nevada’s renewable energy portfolio.” – LCVAF Questionnaire