State campaign finance reports released by Monday’s deadline showed a tight fundraising battle across the races most likely to determine whether Nevada Democrats can secure a legislative supermajority.

Across 10 contested legislative races throughout the second quarter, Democratic and Republican candidates each led the fundraising race in five of them. Meanwhile, PACs affiliated with Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo continued to pour money into the coffers of prominent GOP candidates, and those supporting ballot questions on ranked-choice voting, abortion rights and voter ID donated millions of dollars to the PACs behind the initiatives.

The latest campaign finance reports offer the penultimate look at fundraising data for Nevada political candidates and committees ahead of the general election, covering April through June. It also provides more insight into the head-to-head fundraising data for key legislative races after last month’s primaries winnowed each race to one Democrat and one Republican.

The stakes are high. Democrats control 13 seats in the 21-member state Senate (one short of the two-thirds supermajority needed to override a veto) and 28 seats — a supermajority — in the 42-member Assembly. The outcome of a few key races could change whether Lombardo’s ability to veto bills stands, as a veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber.

In total, more than $2.3 million was donated to the candidates running in the 10 most competitive legislative races — identified by The Indy based on district partisanship — and groups poured more than $10 million into organizations either supporting or opposing the various ballot initiatives. This was bolstered by a $5.75 million haul by a group supporting the ballot question on ranked-choice voting and open primaries, and $1.4 million raised by a Lombardo-affiliated PAC supporting the voter ID initiative.

Click below for a closer look at the campaign finance reports.

Legislative races

Pro-Lombardo PACs

Ballot initiatives

Other

Legislative races

Across the 10 most competitive legislative races, six of the candidates who raised more money in the second quarter are of the opposite party than the seat is currently held by.

Here’s a closer look at how it’s shaking out:

Democrat-held seats:

• Senate District 11: Sen. Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas) raised $171,000, about $60,000 more than her GOP challenger, Lori Rogich. Harris also has about $370,000 in cash on hand, roughly $10,000 more than Rogich.

• Assembly District 21: Assemblywoman Elaine Marzola (D-Las Vegas) raised about $104,000, which was $10,000 more than the haul of her GOP challenger, April Arndt. However, Marzola has a significant lead in cash on hand with about $278,000 compared to Arndt’s $58,000.

• Assembly District 25: Republican Diana Sande raised about $175,000 — the second-most among all key candidates — which was much higher than Assemblywoman Selena La Rue Hatch (D-Reno), who raised $60,000. Sande also has about $100,000 more cash on hand than La Rue Hatch.

• Assembly District 29: In this open seat vacated by Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen (D-Las Vegas), Republican Annette Dawson Owens raised $88,000, compared to Democrat Joe Dalia’s $80,000. Dalia, however, has around $85,000 more in cash on hand than Dawson Owens.

• Assembly District 35: In this swingy district vacated by Assemblywoman Michelle Gorelow (D-Las Vegas), Republican Rebecca Edgeworth raised about $130,000 more than her Democrat opponent Sharifa Wahab, whose haul of about $27,000 was the lowest among any candidate in a key race. Edgeworth also has about $100,000 more in cash on hand.

• Assembly District 37: Republican David Brog raised $128,000, about $20,000 more than Assemblywoman Shea Backus (D-Las Vegas). Backus, however, has a more than $25,000 lead in cash on hand.

• Assembly District 41: Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) raised more than $190,000, the most of any candidate in a key race. Her Republican opponent, Rafael Arroyo, raised $70,000. Jauregui also has a lead of more than $260,000 in cash on hand.

Republican-held seats:

• Senate District 5: Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson) raised $174,000 toward her re-election bid, while Democrat Jennifer Atlas raised about $114,000. Buck also has a lead of about $115,000 in cash on hand.

• Senate District 15: In what is likely the best chance for a Democratic pickup in the Senate because of redistricting, Assemblywoman Angie Taylor (D-Reno) raised $110,000 in her bid to take the seat being vacated by Sen. Heidi Seevers Gansert (R-Reno). Republican Mike Ginsburg, meanwhile, raised $75,000 and has a cash on hand lead of about $7,000.

• Assembly District 4: In this open seat vacated by Assemblyman Richard McArthur (R-Las Vegas), Democrat Ryan Hampton raised $173,000 compared to Republican Lisa Cole’s haul of $140,000. Hampton also has about $100,000 more in cash on hand than Cole.

Pro-Lombardo PACs

Millions of dollars poured into Lombardo’s campaign machine through several PACs that support the governor and his slate of legislative candidates.

The most public-facing one is the Better Nevada PAC — the group that in 2022 received millions of dollars from Lombardo’s top campaign donor, hotel baron and space enthusiast Robert Bigelow — which last year unleashed attacks against legislative Democrats as being embroiled in a “culture of corruption.” 

Better Nevada PAC raised more than $2.3 million — bolstered by a $1.6 million donation from the Las Vegas Sands and The Venetian, a company founded by late GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson and is now led by his widow, Miriam Adelson. It also received $100,000 from Uber.

The PAC spent $2 million in the quarter, mostly on its own consulting and advertising costs, but also contributed to Republican candidates running in nine of the 10 most important races (all except Ginsburg, whose race is among the more likely Democratic victories).

Additionally, Better Nevada transferred $1.4 million to a new PAC called the Better Nevada Ballot Advocacy Committee, which formed in May and is focused on supporting a voter ID ballot initiative. The initiative gathered more than 179,000 signatures in support and is awaiting approval from county election officials, which is due to state officials Thursday.

Another Lombardo-affiliated PAC is the Nevada Way PAC, which raised $630,000, with a $250,000 donation coming from Boyd Gaming Corporation. This PAC donated money to candidates in eight of the most important legislative races (all except Ginsburg and Buck).

Stronger Nevada PAC, a pro-Lombardo group run by former Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison, also paid for in-kind media production services — valued at $5,000 each — for 11 Republican candidates, including Washoe County Commissioner Clara Andriola and many of the legislative candidates.

Ballot initiatives

In addition to the Lombardo-backed group on voter ID raising $1.4 million, three other groups supporting ballot initiatives received at least $1 million in donations from April through June.

Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, the group behind the ballot initiative to establish a constitutional right to abortion in Nevada, raised about $1.4 million, roughly the same amount raised last quarter.

This included $550,000 from the Tides Foundation, a powerful left-leaning philanthropic fund with ties to the Democratic megadonor George Soros, and $150,000 from Think Big America, a nonprofit tied to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker that had previously given $1 million to the initiative. Quinn Delaney, a prominent Democratic donor, also gave $250,000 to the group.

Vote Yes on 3 — a new group supporting Question 3 on the November ballot, which would establish open primaries and ranked-choice voting for non-presidential races — raised $5.75 million in the quarter. The haul included $4 million from Article IV, a Virginia-based group that bills itself as a nonpartisan group focused on improving democracy.

The group also received $1.5 million from Unite America, a philanthropic fund dedicated to election reform, and $250,000 from Wynn Resorts.

The other seven-figure donation was made by Uber, which gave $1 million to Nevadans for Fair Recovery, a group backing the ballot initiative that seeks to cap attorney fees in Nevada at 20 percent of all settlements and awards. The ride-sharing company previously gave $4 million to the group.

This initiative is not vying for a spot on the November ballot, but is instead seeking to be addressed in the 2025 legislative session. If it gets enough votes to do so and the Legislature does not act on it, the question would be put in front of voters in the 2026 election.

A group of Nevada trial lawyers filed a lawsuit earlier this year seeking to block the petition, arguing its intention is to stymie sexual misconduct suits against Uber. Its initial effort failed, but it has been appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. 

Citizens for Justice, the political arm of the Nevada Justice Association (the group behind the lawsuit), raised $2 million and spent about $340,000 in the second quarter, but it’s unclear how much of this was related to the petition. This haul is six times as much as the group’s first quarter fundraising total.  

Other

• In the Las Vegas mayoral race, former Rep. Shelley Berkley raised $255,000 and has $500,000 in cash on hand. Her general election opponent, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, raised $247,000 and has $269,000 in cash on hand.
• Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) is not facing a particularly competitive race this year but has more than $1 million in cash on hand. She could be eyeing a run for statewide office in 2026.
• Remember those mailers that called Sen. Dina Neal (D-North Las Vegas) “‘Dirty Deal’ Neal”? We were hoping to learn who was funding those advertisements — which came from a PAC registered by North Las Vegas City Councilman Isaac Barron — but the group has not yet filed its campaign finance report, even though it was due Monday.
• The highest-profile primary this year was in Senate District 3, which resulted in Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas) prevailing over a Culinary Union-backed challenger. Nguyen’s campaign finance report showed her bringing in a whopping $400,000 and spending $565,000 in the quarter, with major donations coming from casinos and unions.

Editor’s note: This story appears in Indy Elections, The Nevada Independent’s newsletter dedicated to comprehensive coverage of the 2024 elections. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Updated on 7/17/24 at 8:30 a.m. to clarify that the Stronger Nevada PAC is not run by Lombardo.