After Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) surprise retirement announcement, Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District will elect a new representative for the first time in 15 years. Given the district’s Republican bent — it has never elected a Democrat and Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to 2 — the GOP primary in June is likely to decide who that new member of Congress will be.
The open race in the state’s one safe Republican seat has attracted 13 contenders. The front-runners are retired Air Force Lt. Col David Flippo (R), who is campaigning against illegal immigration and highlighting his support for President Donald Trump, and former state Sen. James Settelmeyer (R-Minden), who is banking on his multigenerational Nevada roots and conservative principles. Sources who spoke to The Nevada Independent suggested Settelmeyer would operate in the Amodei tradition.
Trump has not made an endorsement in the race, though Flippo has earned the support and attention of a slew of national figures, including far-right influencer Laura Loomer. Settelmeyer is endorsed by Amodei and Gov. Joe Lombardo (R).
By the end of the first quarter, Flippo’s cash on hand far outpaced any other candidate in the race after he loaned his campaign nearly $1.2 million. The money picture won’t be complete until after the primary, but a new disclosure last week revealed an additional $80,000 of self-funding.
His team is putting that money to good use — AdImpact lists his campaign’s spending at more than half a million dollars, making him the top spender by far. The super PAC American Honor PAC and the Freedom Caucus Fund have also stepped in to support him.
But Settelmeyer has his own outside help. In addition to his own campaign’s ad spending, a super PAC called Conservatives for American Excellence has spent more than $300,000 backing him.
Here’s what sets each of the candidates apart — and resources to learn more.
Nevada Current: Flippo, Settelmeyer — and 11 more Republicans — seek open Northern Nevada U.S. House seat
Reno Gazette-Journal: Q&A with Republicans running for Nevada’s CD2 US House seat
Nevada Appeal: 2026 Primary Election: U.S. House of Representatives – Republicans
KRNV and KRXI: 2nd Congressional District GOP primary: 13 vying to represent northern Nevada in Congress
And you can click the below links to scroll to a specific candidate:
David Flippo
James Settelmeyer
Jesse Watts
Fred Simon
Rick Shepherd
Tom Doyle
Sherman Tylawsky
Mike Smith
George Forbush
Jerry Olsen
Jenn Billat
Andrea Lowe
Bruce Grego
David Flippo
After serving in the Air Force in Iraq, Flippo, 63, worked for BP in Alaska before moving to Nevada about 10 years ago. He now owns two small businesses, OSJ Food Aid USA and Strategic Foundations LLC. Flippo placed second in the 2024 GOP primary for Southern Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, earning more than 45 percent of the vote and losing to the eventual nominee, former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.
Now Flippo is running as a “strong conservative” supporting Trump’s agenda and has the backing of Turning Point USA, CPAC, a handful of county Republican parties, former Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and several right-wing members of Congress.
He told The Nevada Independent that the top issues he’s heard about campaigning in the district are “the economy, immigration and Sharia law.” He said he would give Trump’s second term an A-plus given the challenges the president has faced and expects him to soon end the “forever war” in the Middle East.
“I wish he was a little bit stronger, maybe on the Second Amendment,” Flippo added, “and I would like to see a lot of his executive orders codified into law, so that we’re not changing executive orders every time we get a different president.”
Attacks on Flippo have largely focused on his decision to swap from the race for the 4th Congressional District, where he was running for months before Amodei’s announcement, and his move from Las Vegas to Reno. In an interview with The Nevada Independent, he said he plans to stay in Northern Nevada.
“My wife and I are trying to figure out where to actually do our forever home here,” he said. “That’s why I’m renting right now.”
Flippo also addressed attacks that he was fired as a financial broker in 2024 for exposing client information. A tool created by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority notes the allegation that he “violated numerous company policies and regulatory regulations related to electronic communications, books and records and customer identification. No client harm was involved.”
“In the finance industry, when you’re terminated, it gets filed,” he said. “They found nothing to discipline me for. I wasn’t fined for anything. I didn’t lose any licenses. I currently work for the largest independent brokerage firm in the nation.”
If elected, Flippo said he is interested in serving on committees focused on natural resources, agriculture, energy and veterans affairs. He said his internal polling was “looking good,” though he declined to share details.
KRNV: Meet David Flippo, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
KTVN: Full interview with David Flippo
This Is Reno: Congressional District 2 candidates: David Flippo
Carson City Republican Party: David Flippo (R) for Congressional District 2
James Settelmeyer
Settelmeyer, 55, is a former state Senate minority leader and fourth-generation rancher who recently stepped down as director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He’s running on his family’s deep roots in the district — there are two Settelmeyer ranches between Gardnerville and Minden — and his state service. He’s the only candidate in the race with extensive legislative experience, which Flippo’s campaign has mined for attacks.
Flippo and his supporters have attacked Settelmeyer for being insufficiently conservative, focusing many of their attacks on accusations that he voted to give driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. In fact, Settelmeyer joined nearly every other Republican in the state Senate in 2013 to implement driver’s authorization cards, which he has said helped the state gather more information on those who signed up for them. He has also emphatically rebutted other attacks, saying he stands behind his vote for the Equal Rights Amendment but no longer supports open primaries.
Settelmeyer is now running on his support for limited government and low taxes — highlighting how he took state Democratic leaders to court and won after they tried to raise taxes without the two-thirds majority vote required by the state Constitution. He’s backed by more than 100 Nevada leaders, including Lombardo and Amodei.
He also supports Trump’s effort to secure the border, especially for people who have committed crimes beyond entering America illegally, though he supports a path forward for immigrants who have been in the United States since they were children. He told the Carson City GOP that decisions about abortion and red flag laws — those allowing gun confiscation over mental health crises — should be left up to the states.
The Nevada Independent: James Settelmeyer is Mr. Rural Nevada. Is he MAGA enough to win a GOP House primary?
KUNR: Meet James Settelmeyer: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet James Settelmeyer, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
KTVN: Full interview with James Settelmeyer
Carson City Republican Party: James Settelmeyer (R) for Congressional District 2
Jesse Watts
Former Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts (R), 40, has said deregulation, protecting the Constitution and infrastructure are among his top priorities, as is growing Nevada-based mining compared to foreign interests. He told KRNV he’d “be more aggressive” than Amodei in making sure all constituents are represented, that he would be “more conservative,” and that he would host Taco Tuesday town halls.
Watts, who lives in Golden Valley, a suburb of Reno, also said he wants to build an oil refinery in Nevada. He told the Carson City GOP he’d be a constituent advocate first and foremost and supports codifying the Department of Government Efficiency, eliminating taxes for seniors and repealing the Affordable Care Act. He opposes funding the Ukraine war.
As Eureka sheriff, Watts faced allegations that he made false claims about a resident and a subsequent recall effort in 2024. He resigned before a recall election was held. He told KTVN he’s in the middle of a lawsuit against the county.
In his current campaign, he has openly criticized his opponents.
“We have done the political elite,” Watts told KTVN when discussing Settelmeyer. “Nevada’s changed.”
But he’s aimed most of his fire at Flippo, calling his campaign “disgusting” and bashing him and his consultants on social media.
KUNR: Meet Jesse Watts: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Jesse Watts, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
KTVN: A former rural-Nevada Sheriff is running for Congress
This Is Reno: Congressional District 2 candidates: Jesse Watts
Carson City Republican Party: Jesse Watts (R) for Congressional District 2
Fred Simon
Trauma surgeon and small-business owner Fred Simon (R), 73, is a Gardnerville resident who previously ran for Congress in California, for Nevada governor in 2022 and for this seat in 2024, earning a little more than one-third of the vote in the primary against Amodei. He told KRNV he would “vote completely different than” Amodei, focusing on balancing the budget and comprehensive energy and immigration policy, as well as being present in Nevada’s communities. He is also emphasizing his healthcare expertise.
Simon previously told The Nevada Independent he wants to take on lobbyists and people of both parties who stoke division in order to represent people like him, “the honest basic Nevadan.”
In a campaign ad that started airing in Reno this week, he said, “This race has been overshadowed by candidates with personal misconduct and corrupt insider endorsements by local party officials.”
KUNR: Meet Fred Simon Jr.: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Fred Simon, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
Carson City Republican Party: Fred Simon (R) for Congressional District 2
Rick Shepherd
Implementation specialist and activist Rick Shepherd (R), 54, ran for this seat as a Democrat in 2020 and has advocated for views more commonly espoused by Democrats, such as universal healthcare, free public services, universal basic income to offset job losses caused by AI, abortion rights and opposition to Trump’s immigration enforcement operation — though he wants lots of immigration without H-1B visas. He told KRNV the Democratic Party is broken and that “nothing gets through” if the party doesn’t approve, while the GOP “plays its primaries fair.” He called Amodei “a do-nothing” congressman.
Shepherd, who is based in Reno, told KUNR that the United States is “ruled by warmongers, pedophiles, Zionists and psychopaths.” He said to the Carson City GOP, “We haven’t had a free, fair election in a long time” and claimed to be “to the right of Trump” on the Second Amendment. If elected, he said he wants to build nuclear reactors and focus on brackish water desalination.
Shepherd supports eliminating the Federal Reserve and cutting military spending. He also said, “Israel is the root of almost everything that’s wrong with our government and most of the world today.” A Shepherd campaign text featured an Israeli flag with a “no” symbol across it, calling Israel “a cancer on the planet” and stating “the world will never know peace until it’s eradicated.” The text also advocated for “public execution of pedophiles,” nodding to the Epstein files.
KUNR: Meet Rick Shepherd: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Rick Shepherd, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
This Is Reno: Congressional District 2 candidates
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Rick Shepherd
Carson City Republican Party: Rick Shepherd (R) for Congressional District-2
Tom Doyle
Reno resident Tom Doyle (R) has worked in the casino industry for 45 years and is an inactive certified public accountant who told KRNV he “would probably support almost everything Mark Amodei has voted for in the past” as a “fairly strong conservative.”
Doyle also said he doesn’t think “you need to tax the higher earners anymore than they do now” and said the end of the Iran war will soon bring prices down. He said he supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to some degree but is opposed to birthright citizenship. Doyle wants to alter, not eliminate, the Affordable Care Act. He supports leaving abortion up to the states and would vote against federal legislation to outlaw the procedure.
His website states, “Criminal illegal immigrants — not just those convicted of violent crimes — should be prioritized for deportation. Individuals found in the country illegally during enforcement operations should also be subject to removal.”
The website of another candidate, business owner Jenn Billat (R), uses the same language.
“I write all my positions without any particular source and without using apps like ChatGPT,” Doyle wrote in an email to The Nevada Independent when asked about why the phrasing was identical. “I have no idea where [Billat] sources her policies.”
He also wrote in that email, “It is important to focus more on criminal illegal aliens. That position is to focus both on violent criminal illegals and those that have committed fraud and other crimes such as stealing identities.”
KUNR: Meet Tom Doyle: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Tom Doyle, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
This Is Reno: Congressional District 2 candidates: Tom Doyle
Carson City Republican Party: Tom Doyle (R) for Congressional District 2
Sherman Tylawsky
Ph.D. candidate Sherman Tylawsky (R) is 28 years old and has interned in Congress. He founded The George Washington Institute, which aims to spread lessons from leaders in American history. He currently lives in Carson City.
He told KRNV he’d be focused on growing the supply chain with fewer regulations and taxes. In an interview with the Carson City GOP, he said he questions the value of income taxes compared with other options, such as taxes on consumption. He also praised Trump’s rhetoric and action on immigration, though he suggested he’d support immigration reform.
KUNR: Meet Sherman Tylawsky: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Sherman Tylawsky, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
This Is Reno: Congressional District 2 candidates: Sherman Tylawsky
Carson City Republican Party: Sherman Tylawsky (R) for Congressional District 2
Mike Smith
Retired Navy captain and fighter pilot Mike Smith (R), 69, previously worked as Nevada’s U.S. Navy emergency preparedness liaison officer, an experience that he told KRNV inspired him to keep serving the state directly. He called himself a “strong conservative voice” and said Trump’s agenda has not yet been fully enacted.
The national debt is among his top issues. He supports getting rid of the Affordable Care Act. The Sparks resident also suggested that the Washoe County GOP leadership, which endorsed Flippo, is “disenfranchising voters” by making it “Clark County North.”
KUNR: Meet Mike Smith: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Mike Smith, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
Carson City Republican Party: Mike Smith (R) for Congressional District 2
George Forbush
Retired police officer George Forbush (R), 52, is a fourth-generation Nevadan who has worked in the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and the Sparks Police Department. He received a $525,000 settlement after being disciplined over personal tweets.
“A lot of people don’t realize how political law enforcement is,” he told KRNV. He said he is running to ensure Nevada does not become like California.
The Sparks resident has advocated for a new fuel pipeline from Utah and for sportsmen such as himself. He supports new loan programs to make homes more affordable — including 50-year mortgages as a contrast to the typical 30-year option.
He has also said he wants to more heavily regulate the pharmaceutical and insurance industries to limit price gouging. On immigration, Forbush’s website states that it is “counterproductive when hardworking, law-abiding immigrants are caught up in enforcement actions intended for dangerous offenders” and that the United States should “consider transitioning from a sponsorship-based model to a merit-based, points system.”
KUNR: Meet George Forbush: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet George Forbush, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
Carson City Republican Party: George Forbush (R) for Congressional District-2
Jerry Olsen
Retired Army medic Jerry Olsen (R) is 65 and spent 20 years as a Washoe County deputy sheriff. He is not accepting any campaign donations.
“I’m going to vote what the constituents of the 2nd Congressional District want, I’m not going to vote the way I want,” he told KRNV. He added he is not “100 percent with Trump,” but is open to diverse ideas that benefit Nevadans. He said “there’s not too much the government can do to lower prices,” though he advocates for eliminating taxes for people older than 70.
KUNR: Meet Jerry Olsen: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
KRNV: Meet Jerry Olsen, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
Jenn Billat
Jenn Billat (R) told KRNV land is the “number one thing” that she’s running on and that she’s aligned with Amodei, who she believes has “done a good job of working with our senators and getting a lot of progressive things done with land and protections in Northern Nevada.”
Billat, a Reno resident, did not respond to a request for comment about the similarities between her website and Doyle’s.
KRNV: Meet Jenn Billat, GOP candidate for Nevada Congressional District 2
Andrea Lowe
Lander County School Board member Andrea Lowe (R) is a resident of Austin and a seventh-generation Nevadan. She is a 32-year-old homemaker who has worked eight years as a volunteer firefighter.
Healthcare is among her top priorities. She also supports bringing jobs to Nevada and younger leadership.
KUNR: Meet Andrea Lowe: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
Bruce Grego
Attorney Bruce Grego (R), 73, is a former South Lake Tahoe city councilman who is running to take on the “administrative state.”
“I don’t think unelected officials should be controlling our lives,” he previously told The Nevada Independent. In that interview, he said he relates to Trump and would be more willing to buck the system than Amodei. He moved to Carson City in 2023 to be closer to family.
KUNR: Meet Bruce Grego: Republican candidate for Nevada’s CD2
