Matthew Fonken

Matthew Fonken (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Nevada's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on June 9, 2026.

Fonken completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2026

Nevada's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 (June 9 Democratic primary)

Nevada's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026 (June 9 Republican primary)

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for U.S. House Nevada District 2

Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D), David Flippo (R), and Lynn Chapman (Independent American Party) are running in the general election for U.S. House Nevada District 2 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D)
		David Flippo (R)
	Submit photo	Lynn Chapman (Independent American Party)

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 2

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Nevada District 2 on June 9, 2026.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Teresa Benitez-Thompson	45.6	23,706
	Greg Kidd	22.5	11,714
	Kathy Durham	11.5	5,973
	Morgan Wadsworth	9.4	4,877
	Matthew Fonken	6.2	3,204
	Gamaliel Zavala Enriquez	1.7	863
	Joshua Hebert	0.8	421
	John Kerns	0.7	375
	Mark Jolle	0.7	357
	Samuel White	0.6	320
	Gerold Lee Gorman	0.4	221

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 52,031
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for U.S. House Nevada District 2

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Nevada District 2 on June 9, 2026.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Flippo	46.9	38,174
		James A. Settelmeyer	34.5	28,131
		George Forbush	4.1	3,337
		Michael Smith	3.4	2,762
		Thomas Doyle	2.1	1,717
		Fred Simon Jr.	2.0	1,616
		Jennifer Billat	1.8	1,464
		Jesse Watts	1.6	1,264
		Andrea Lowe	1.4	1,130
		Rick Shepherd	0.9	720
	Submit photo	Jerry Olsen	0.7	608
		Sherman Tylawsky	0.3	278
	Submit photo	Bruce Grego	0.3	223

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 81,424
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

Matthew Fonken completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fonken's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Public lands are a trust, not a transaction. I’ll fight to protect them — not put them on the chopping block.
Health care is not a political game. It’s about whether people can live their lives with security and dignity. I’ll fight to expand access, lower costs, and protect care not rip it away.
Accountability isn’t about scoring partisan points; it’s about making sure government works within the law and in the public interest. If you give me the job, I’ll treat it like a responsibility, not a perk.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Environmental, infrastructure, healthcare

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Nevada Senator Edgar Flores, Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerbloom, and Former NV-2 Democratic Nominee Mercedes Krause

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Matthew Fonken campaign contribution history
Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2026*	U.S. House Nevada District 2	Lost primary	$91,864	$91,818
Grand total			$91,864	$91,818
Sources: OpenSecrets, Federal Election Commission *This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete