Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) said Thursday that the defeat of his chosen political heir by a Trump-endorsed primary challenger risks imperiling his district’s reliably Republican edge.“Well, here we are,” Amodei mused on X. “While this primary election wasn’t a big turnout, and no Republican in [the second Congressional district] received a majority of the vote, the Republican candidate advancing to the general election faces a well-positioned Democrat opponent.”Amodei’s statement caps off a political saga in northern Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District over who could succeed the seven-term GOP congressman, who announced his retirement in February. Amodei endorsed James Settelmeyer, his former colleague in the Nevada state legislature, while President Donald Trump opted instead to back Air Force veteran David Flippo in a race that further illustrates the president’s sway over Republican primary elections.
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The Cook Political Report rates the race as “Solid Republican,” though Amodei suggested on X that the district, “for the first time in its history, isn’t a Republican guarantee.”
Amodei, a moderate Republican, endorsed Settelmeyer shortly after his surprise retirement announcement. Along with much of Nevada’s Republican establishment, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) also praised Settelmeyer, who was a co-chairman of Trump’s 2020 Nevada campaign.
