Newly surfaced audio shows Republican congressional candidate Marty O’Donnell saying LGBTQ+ people are an “existential threat” and that he needs to learn more about the district he’s running for.
O’Donnell will take on incumbent US Rep. Susie Lee (D-Las Vegas) in November in what’s expected to be the most competitive congressional race in the state, as President Donald Trump narrowly won Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. This specific district could help decide which party controls the US House of Representatives.
O’Donnell, a video game composer, is backed by House Republicans’ “MAGA Majority” program, which supports Republicans in battleground districts. O’Donnell, however, has drawn widespread criticism after an interview clip resurfaced of him saying, “Talk about an existential threat,” and listing LGBTQ+ people, Marxists, and “Islamists” as working together in a “weird alliance.”
Clips have also resurfaced—some from his podcast—of him admitting that Las Vegas wouldn’t be his first choice of home.
Resurfaced clips
Three months after O’Donnell announced his bid for the congressional seat, he went on his podcast and said he “would probably never just choose to live in Las Vegas out of the blue,” and added he only moved to the Silver State because of his grandchildren.
O’Donnell moved to Nevada in 2021. It’s not his first time running for the swingiest district in Nevada. In 2024, he attempted to unseat Lee, but failed as he came in fourth place in the primary election.
It’s been a trend in Nevada for MAGA Republicans to move to vulnerable districts before they announce their candidacy. When O’Donnell announced his second run, he said if he didn’t receive an endorsement from Trump, then he would drop out. Trump endorsed O’Donnell two months before the primaries.
In an audio obtained by The Nevadan from a 2024 GOP event at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, O’Donnell said, “There are some very specific things about Nevada that I need to learn,” such as housing, water policy, and infrastructure.
“[I’m] definitely willing to learn, especially about District 3, where I live,” O’Donnell continued.
In a statement to The Nevadan, a spokesperson for O’Donnell said he’s spent his entire campaign speaking with Southern Nevadans.
“We should all strive to never stop learning,” his campaign wrote. “As Congressman, Marty will fight to get hedge funds out of the single family housing market, reclaim our water that is being used by California to grow alfalfa for China, and work to return us to the time when one good job was enough to provide for a family. What he will not do in Congress is use his position to enrich himself on the stock market like Susie Lee has done for nearly a decade.”
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. David Flippo faced similar criticism during the Republican primary election.
Flippo lived in Las Vegas before he reportedly moved to northern Nevada soon after Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) announced he would not run for reelection. Flippo also received Trump’s endorsement—which fractured the Republican party in Nevada.
Amodei shared a lengthy post on X, saying Trump’s endorsement was “a mistake.”
“The time has not come for a national private political organization to pick for Nevadans, who speaks for them in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Amodei wrote. “This endorsement is an incredibly curious way to say thank you to those people who have been the bedrock of your political endeavors here in original Nevada.”
A year ago, O’Donnell, who owns a home in California, went on his podcast to suggest viewers would see more of his California home whenever he’s “taking a little break from Las Vegas.”
“Unlike far too many in elected office, Marty is not a career politician who has spent their life speaking in recycled talking points without understanding the issues facing their community,” the campaign wrote to The Nevadan.
The campaign added he’s a businessman and grandfather who “stepped up to run for Congress because he believes ordinary people” are needed in office “now more than ever.”
