Lily Benavides

Lily Benavides
Member of the New HampshireHouseofRepresentatives from the Hillsborough 17th district
In office January 3, 2007 –January 3, 2009
Personal details
Political party	Green
Other political affiliations	Democratic

Lily Benavides (born 1965) is an American activist for human rights and immigrant rights. She served as a Democratic member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009, representing Hillsborough District 21. She later switched to the Green Party.

Political career

Benavides was elected to the New Hampshire House in 2006. She was a member of the NH Immigrant Rights Task Force where she fought for discrimination against Latinos in New Hampshire. Benavides did not seek re-election in 2008. She endorsed Bill Richardson in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. ^[1]

In 2024, Benavides was the Green Party nominee for New Jersey's 11th congressional district , challenging Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. Benavides was initially chosen by 2025 Green Party gubernatorial nominee Stephen Zielinski as his running mate. However, after Zielinski withdrew from the race, Benavides attempted to replace him as the party's nominee for governor, with software engineer Lisa Ryan as her running mate. ^[1] Benavides withdrew from the race after she fell below the required 2,000 nomination signatures to be placed on the ballot, due to successful challenges by Democrats. ^[2]

Personal life

Benavides immigrated to the United States from Colombia 36 years ago. She's married, has 4 children, 8 grandchildren, 3 cats, a dog and a gecko. ^[1]

References

1. Wildstein, David (22 August 2025). "Green Party gets new gubernatorial candidate". New Jersey Globe . Retrieved 22 August 2025.
2. Wildstein, David (28 August 2025). "Green Party candidates ends bid for governor after petitions fall short". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved 29 August 2025.