Amy Lynnette Vilela (born 1974 or 1975) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. She worked as an accountant before becoming an advocate for

single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...

, also known as

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...

, after her daughter was turned away from a hospital and died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

because the hospital thought she lacked health insurance. Vilela ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in 2018 and 2022, and co-chaired the Nevada campaign for the

Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign The 2020 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders was an election campaign from the junior United States Senate, United States senator from Vermont. It began with Bernie Sanders, Sanders's formal announcement on February 19, 2019. The announcem ...

Early life, education, and career

Vilela was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Her father was an ironworker and her mother was a secretary. They divorced during her childhood. Vilela became a mother when she was a teenager. She ended up homeless while raising her children, and used

public assistance Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance pr ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree in business and accounting from

Park University Park University is a private university in Parkville, Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1875. In the fall of 2023, Park had an enrollment of 6,389 students. History The school which was originally called Park College was founded in ...

in Missouri. She became the

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

of the Tammy Lynn Center, a nonprofit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She then became the chief financial officer at Foresee Consulting, a construction management consulting firm.

Political career

In 2018, Vilela ran in the Democratic Party primary election for the

for , which was held by

Ruben Kihuen Rubén Jesús Kihuen Bernal (; born April 25, 1980) is an American politician and former member of the United States House of Representatives for , serving from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was a member of the N ...

. Vilela met Kihuen at a forum in 2017, where he declined to support Medicare for All. Kihuen dropped out of the race due to an unrelated scandal, and

Steven Horsford Steven Alexzander Horsford (born April 29, 1973) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Nevada's 4th congressional district since 2019, previously holding the position from 2013 to 2015. He also served ...

won with 62% of the vote, while Vilela finished in third with 9%. The documentary ''

Knock Down the House ''Knock Down the House'' is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Rachel Lears. It revolves around the 2018 congressional primary campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin, four progressiv ...

'' showcased Vilela's campaign, alongside the primary campaigns of

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

Paula Jean Swearengin Paula Jean Swearengin (born June 13, 1974) is an American activist and politician who was the Democratic nominee in the 2020 U.S. Senate election in West Virginia, and a candidate in the Democratic primary for the state's other Senate seat in 2 ...

, and

Cori Bush Cori Anika Bush (born July 21, 1976) is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2021 to 2025. The district includes all of the ...

, three other Democrats who ran for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in the

2018 midterm elections Elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during incumbent Republican president Donald Trump's first term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, Democratic incum ...

. It premiered at the

2019 Sundance Film Festival The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 24 to February 3, 2019. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 28, 2018. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * '' Before You Know It'' by Hannah Pearl Utt * '' ...

and was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on May 1, 2019. During the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

, Vilela served as the Nevada state co-chair for the

. In January 2021, Vilela announced that she would run for in the 2022 elections, held by fellow Democrat

Dina Titus Alice Constandina "Dina" Titus ( ; born May 23, 1950) is an American politician who has been the United States representative for since 2013. She served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011, when she was defeated by Joe Heck. Titus i ...

. Vilela received 20.2% of the vote in the primary, losing to Titus, who received 79.8%.

Personal life

Vilela married David, a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

officer, in 2009. They are raising four children. In 2015, Vilela's 22-year-old daughter died of a

. She had presented to Centennial Hills Hospital with the symptoms of a

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enl ...

. Sometime later, following a flight, the blood clot broke off and became a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

. Following her daughter's death, Vilela became an advocate for

. She founded a Nevada chapter of

Healthcare-NOW! Healthcare-NOW! is a non-profit grassroots coalition in support of the single-payer health care movement for the United States. Healthcare-NOW!'s stated goal is to implement the Medicare for All Act. History Healthcare-NOW! was founded in 2004 ...

, which lobbies for single-payer healthcare. In 2017, she filed a lawsuit against Centennial Hills Hospital.

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilela, Amy 1970s births 20th-century American women 21st-century American women American health activists Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Nevada Democrats Park University alumni People from Maryland Politicians from Las Vegas Women in Nevada politics Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections