Dark Money Mailers Attacking Flippo in Nevada CD-2 Prompts FBI Investigation

A shadowy dark-money group is flooding Northern Nevada mailboxes with attacks on Republican nominee David Flippo in the race for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District, promoting Independent American Party candidate Lynn Chapman in a pattern Republicans elsewhere call a deliberate Democratic voter-suppression scheme. 

The effort arrives as the Washoe County Republican Party voted unanimously to no longer recognize retiring Rep. Mark Amodei as a Republican after he publicly refused to back Flippo and confirmed he voted for Chapman.

American Forge Coalition, a Delaware-registered 501(c)(4) created in May 2026, has blanketed battleground House districts with mailers accusing Republicans of being soft on the border and abortion. Its website pushes tariffs, a border wall, and deportations while listing no donors or leaders. In Nevada’s deep-red CD-2, a district that has never elected a Democrat and which President Donald Trump carried by double digits, the group is targeting Flippo while elevating Chapman.

Corporate records reveal the group was incorporated by Utah-based CPA Mike McCauley, who has spent decades providing compliance and accounting services to Republican parties and candidates in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Campaigns and watchdog groups have nevertheless described the operation as a Democrat-aligned front to manipulate GOP voters.

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), one of the group’s other targets, appeared on CBS’s Face The Nation and claimed that the mailers and texts are “a shady Democrat dark money scheme” designed to suppress GOP turnout. Lawler said the Justice Department referred the matter to the FBI, noting that similar tactics appeared in 2024 and that “voter suppression is illegal.” The same group has hit Lawler, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and other vulnerable Republicans while promoting third-party candidates.

The Washoe County Republican Central Committee acted on October 26, adopting an emergency resolution stating that the party “no longer recognizes Mark Amodei as a Republican” and will not endorse or support him for any public office. Chairman Bruce Parks said the unanimous vote followed Amodei’s public statements, including a CNN appearance in which he declared he would not vote for the Republican nominee and confirmed to local media that he cast his ballot for Chapman. Amodei had previously endorsed primary rival James Settelmeyer and called Flippo a “fraud.” Amodei responded that the resolution misstated his actions and resembled a campaign document.

Chapman, the Independent American Party candidate, received 19,784 votes (5%) in the 2024 general election for the same seat against incumbent Amodei. She has described herself as an unpaid citizen lobbyist and has noted that roughly 23,000 voters in the district are registered with the Independent American Party.

National Republican support for Flippo has continued amid the controversy. Congressman Randy Fine (R-FL), a Jewish member of the House, released a video endorsing Flippo while warning Jewish voters against Democratic nominee Teresa Benitez-Thompson. As the California Globe reported, Fine stated that Benitez-Thompson “is not a safe choice if you are Jewish,” citing her support for restoring funding to the Hamas-linked UNRWA, her positions on conditioning U.S. arms sales to Israel, and shared donors with figures including Abdul El-Sayed, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. Fine concluded that Flippo “will fight for you, and he will fight to make sure every Jewish voter in Nevada is safe.”

Flippo, the Trump-endorsed retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who defeated former GOP legislator James Settlemeyer in the June primary, issued this statement to the California Globe: “Northern Nevadans are wise and shrewd people, they won’t fall for the Democrats desperate and potentially fraudulent tricks. We encourage everyone to get out and vote!”

In Northern Nevada, the combination of American Forge mailers, Chapman’s candidacy, and Amodei’s public break with the nominee has drawn national attention and Democratic optimism to a seat long considered a Republican stronghold.