Lily Benavides

Lily Benavides
Member of the New HampshireHouseofRepresentatives from the Hillsborough 17th district
In office January 3, 2007 –January 3, 2009
Personal details
Born	1965 (age 59–60)
Party	Democratic (before 2007) Green (2024-present)
Children	4

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 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 is married and has four children, eight grandchildren, three cats, a dog, and a gecko. ^[1]

Electoral history

2024

2024 New Jersey's 11th congressional district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mikie Sherrill	222,583	56.529%
	Republican	Joseph Belnome	164,556	41.792%
	Green	Lily Benavides	4,780	1.214%
	Independent	Joshua Lanzara	1,832	0.465%
Total votes			393,751	100%

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.