Retired Lt. Col. running for Congress backs Trump Iran strategy: 'He's ending a 47-year conflict'

Retired Air Force Lt.Col.

Dave Flippo knows a thing or two about winning a fight.During his military career he deployed around the world, including serving as a maintenance and logistics officer in Iraq during the lead up to the 2003 invasion.

Currently, he's locked in a tough battle in a Republican-leaning open swing district comprising an enormous chunk of northern Nevada.Nevada may be the best bellwether state west of the Mississippi.It's a hotly contested state with a booming economy and an exploding population marked by a familiar theme in politics: a stark divide between its rural and urban populations.WASHINGTON - MAY 23: David Flippo, then a Republican candidate for Nevada's 4th Congressional district, speaks to Republicans gathered for the Freedom Rally and Candidate Roundup at the Ahern Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)JOE LOMBARDO CRUISES PAST SIX GOP CHALLENGERS TO SECURE NEVADA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATIONTrump won Nevada by a modest margin in 2024, and Governor Joe Lombardo defeated a Democrat incumbent in 2022.Yet three of its four congressional districts are blue, as are both of its Senate seats.

The Democrats hold both chambers of the state legislature by large margins.Flippo won the Republican nomination despite having a well-known establishment-backed primary opponent in the Nevada legislature:"Well, up in the north, it's an R+7 district, and Trump won that district by 14.It's a conservative district.

And running against the establishment versus a conservative candidate who had been endorsed by Turning Point, Club for Growth, President Trump endorsed me.Obviously, the conservative people in the northern Nevada area wanted a conservative in this seat."Nevada Gov.

Joe Lombardo speaks during a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $1.75 billion, 33,000-seat domed stadium for Major League Baseball's Athletics on June 23, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada.The ballpark is being built ...