Carson City – Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is Chairman, Treasurer and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and a noted political activist. Adelson is well known for donating millions of dollars to efforts opposed to the legalization of cannabis for medical or adult use in states across the nation. Adelson is also know to back conservative, pro-Israel candidates, to include President Trump, and this election cycle Adelson and his companies have contributed nearly $32 million to candidates outside Nevada, which includes $25 million to the federal Senate Leadership Fund. In Nevada, Adelson and his companies donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates, and taken as one, Sheldon Adelson is perhaps the state’s leading political patron.
We summed the 2018 contributions of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the Venetian, the Venetian/Pallazzo, the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, and Sheldon Adelson as an individual to candidates, political action committees, and initiatives to include those running for federal offices. All calculations are based on data from the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office and the Federal Election Commission.
The grand total for 2018 spending in Nevada is $22,403,277, but $21,872,077 of the tally went to Nevadans for Affordable, Clean Energy Choices in support of Ballot Question 3, the Energy Choice Initiative.
Sheldon Adelson and his companies donated money to 20 Nevada Democratic candidates in 2018. Total contributions: $92,500.
Tyrone Thompson – $2,500
Dina Neal – $1,000
Ozzie Fumo – $1,000
Olivia Diaz – $2,500
Richard Andrew Carrillo – $2,500
Steve Yeager – $2,500
Ellen B Spiegel – $5,000
James Ohrenschall – $5,000
Jason Frierson – $5,000
Marco Hernandez – $10,000
Moises Denis – $5,000
Aaron Darnell Ford – $10,000
James Brinley Gibson – $10,000
Tiffany Sheree Jones – $1,000
Edgar R. Flores – $5,000
Julia Ratti – $1,000
Sarah C Peters – $1,000
Teresa Francisca Benitez-Thompson – $1,000
Mike Sprinkle – $5,000
Zachary Beare Conine – $2,500
Total Adelson contributions to Republican candidates in 2018: $276,700.
Dean Heller – $49,300
Cresent Hardy – $5,400
Adam Paul Laxalt – $10,000
Janice E Wesen – $2,500
John C Hambrick – $5,000
Glen Kaimi Leavitt – $ 1,000
Melissa Hardy – $5,000
David J. Schoen – $10,000
James Marchant – $10,000
Keith F. Pickard – $ 10,000
Michael Roberson – $10,000
Paris Wade – $10,000
Stephen H. Silberkraus – $10,000
Tisha Black – $ 10,000
Tom Roberts – $10,000
Valerie E Weber – $10,000
Joe P Hardy – $1,000
Ira D Hansen – $5,000
Jim Wheeler – $5,000
James Arnold Settelmeyer – $20,000
Lisa Krasner – $2,500
Alvin Parker Kramer – $5,000
Jill Tolles – $5,000
John Ellison – $5,000
Lisa Krasner – $5,000
Robin L. Titus – $5,000
Ben Kieckhefer – $20,000
Jill Dickman – $1,0000
Jim Wheeler – $5,000
Wesley Karl Duncan – $15,000
Adelson and his companies also donated to several political action committees in Nevada – total 2018 contributions to PACs in Nevada – $115,000.
Right Nevada PAC – $30,000
BizPAC – $5,000
Nevada Progressives United PAC – $10,000
Morning in Nevada PAC – $20,000
NV Majority PAC – $50,000
According to both Nevada Secretary of State and Federal Election Commission data, Sheldon Adelson donated $27,500 to the Nevada Republican Party Central Committee in 2018.
