Nevada’s Congressional District 2 has only ever seen a Republican in the seat.
Democratic CD2 candidate and longtime former Nevada State Assemblymember Teresa Benitez-Thompson looks to become the first Democrat to hold it as she faces off against Republican nominee David Flippo.
Our Reality Check series continues, this time looking at the ad “Home Means Nevada” paid for by Elect Teresa.
Claim one: Minimum wage
“As a legislator, I raised minimum wage,” Benitez-Thompson says to start off the ad.
Verdict: True
In the 2019 Nevada Legislative Session, Assembly Bill 456 was passed and raised the minimum wage by 75 cents every year until it reached $11 and $12, depending on whether the company offers health benefits.
Benitez-Thompson voted ‘yes’ but did not sponsor the bill.
27 other assemblymembers and 13 state senators also voted in favor of the bill.
Claim two: Corruption
"I took on corruption," she continues.
Verdict: True
Benitez-Thompson was a co-sponsor of AB397 from the 2019 session.
It allowed the Nevada Equal Rights Commission to recommend the removal of local elected officials for discrimination.
She also sponsored AB385, which limited fringe benefits, bonuses, and payments to public officers and employees.
Benitez-Thompson did not sponsor, but voted ‘yes’ on Senate Bill 557 in 2019, which did not allow those running for office to use unspent campaign funds for their own use.
The assemblymember also voted in favor of legislation that tightened gifts and financial disclosures for lobbyists.
Claim three: AI companies
“And I stood up to A.I. companies that put our jobs at risk,” Benitez-Thompson says.
Verdict: True, but context is needed
In 2015, the assemblymember did vote in favor of SB170, which created the data center tax abatement program.
Four years later, Benitez-Thompson was the sole sponsor of AB400.
The law changed to require a two-thirds majority vote for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to award partial Local School Tax abatements to data centers.
The law aimed to stop businesses from doubling up on tax breaks.
According to an article by the Reno Gazette Journal, which the campaign referred us to, its analysis found that data centers at the time using the tax break program were failing to create the number of jobs they promised.
Some of the leaders for tax breaks were Tesla, Apple, and Switch, which work with AI in some capacity.
However, AI became much more prevalent in recent years.
Claim four: Data center plan
"In congress I'll keep data centers from driving up utility bills and draining our water,” she says.
Verdict: None
There’s nothing to technically fact check because she’s referencing a hypothetical future if she wins the election. This is why we did not include it in the TV breakdown.
Just to add some context, as we’ve reported, NV Energy says that data centers currently pay for their own power.
However, demand on the grid has increased almost three times compared to last year.
Eventually, the infrastructure will have to be built out to meet the demand, which could get passed down to consumers.
NV Energy says that they are working to make sure data centers pay their fair share.
Claim five: Flippo and data centers
“David Flippo won't fight to stop dirty data centers," Benitez-Thompson says.
Verdict: Misleading
The Nevada Independent asked all Nevada congressional candidates about data centers.
Flippo was quoted as saying that data center decisions should be kept at the local level.
He said the federal government should stay out of decision-making unless it impacts national security.
In the questionnaire, he also said he’s against the tax abatements.
Claim six: Flippo and AI
“He even said we would replace his own workers with AI just to save a buck," she says.
Verdict: Misleading
Nine months ago, on the 775 Alive podcast, Flippo was talking about how hard it was to hire workers.
He was saying that he couldn’t even hire high school kids for anything less than $17 an hour.
So, he was looking at ways to possibly adapt his business.
"I'm going to have to raise my prices or I'm going to have to automate my services to go to AI or going to find another solution which companies are doing right now,” he said.
