Teresa Francisca Benitez-Thompson (born July 25, 1978) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, the Majority Floor Leader and a Democratic member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...

, first elected February 7, 2011 to represent District 27 in Washoe County. She was crowned

Miss Nevada The Miss Nevada competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Nevada in the Miss America competition, and the name of the title held by that winner. The first Nevadan to compete at Miss America was Carol Lampe in 19 ...

2002 and placed third runner-up at the

Miss America 2003 Miss America 2003, the 76th Miss America pageant, was televised live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 21, 2002 on the ABC Network. Erika Harold of Illinois won the pageant. Results Placements Order of ...

pageant.

Background

Benitez-Thompson earned her

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

and her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. By profession she is a licensed social worker at a hospice company. Benitez-Thompson is married to

KOLO-TV KOLO-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Incline Village–licensed low-power Telemundo affiliate KXNV-LD (channel 26). The two stat ...

chief meteorologist, former

KRNV-DT KRNV-DT (channel 4) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains local marketing agreement, joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Sinclair ...

chief meteorologist and former

KTVN KTVN (channel 2) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., the station has studios on Energy Way in Reno, and its transmitter is located on Slide Mountain (Nevada) ...

meteorologist Jeff Thompson and has 4 children. Her father is of Mexican descent.

Elections

*2020 Benitez-Thompson was unopposed in the 2020 Democratic primary and won the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

with 18,559 votes (58.47%) against

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate Barb Hawn. *2018 Benitez-Thompson was unopposed in both the primary and

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

elections. *2016 Benitez-Thompson was unopposed in the primary. She won the

election with 15,080 votes (56.56%) against Republican candidate Bonnie Weber, who later became a member of the

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

City Council. *2014 Benitez-Thompson was unopposed in the primary and won the

election with 7,793 votes (53.53%) against Republican nominee Rex Crouch. *2012 Benitez-Thompson was unopposed in the primary and won the

election with 14,160 votes (57.76%) against Republican nominee Tom Taber, who had previously run for the Assembly in 1990. *2010 When Democratic Assemblywoman

Sheila Leslie Sheila Leslie (born in 1955 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California) is an American politician. She served as a Democratic member of the Nevada Assembly from 1998 to 2010 representing District 27, as well as in the Nevada Senate representing District ...

ran for

Nevada Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the previ ...

and left the Assembly seat open, Benitez-Thompson won the primary with 1,451 votes (55.92%) against Byllie Andrews. She won the

election with 6,951 votes (63.57%) against Republican nominee Gabe Jurado.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Nevada Legislature The Nevada Legislature is a bicameral body, consisting of the lower house, the Assembly, with 42 members, and the upper house, the Senate, with 21. With a total of 63 seats, the Legislature is the third-smallest bicameral state legislature in ...

Campaign website
* , - 1978 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Nevada Hispanic and Latino American women in politics American politicians of Mexican descent Living people Democratic Party members of the Nevada Assembly Miss America 2003 delegates Miss Nevada winners People from Ventura, California Politicians from Reno, Nevada University of Michigan School of Social Work alumni University of Nevada, Reno alumni Women state legislators in Nevada Beauty queen-politicians American social workers {{US-pageant-bio-stub