Billionaires pick sides in the 2nd Congressional District race

In today's edition: We spotted some interesting tidbits in the latest campaign finance reports. Plus: An exclusive on Democrats upping their spending with a Spanish-language ad on data centers, a new poll shows Nevada's gubernatorial candidates neck and neck and what that press conference was really about.

Early voting has begun and I'm glad to be back to help guide you through these final exhausting exhilarating weeks before Election Day. A huge thank you to my colleague Tabitha for helming the newsletter these past several weeks. Come say hi to us at IndyFest and let me know what questions you want answered. 

This newsletter is published twice a week. We want to hear from you! Email your newsletter editor Mini Racker at [email protected]. 

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What we found on the campaign finance cutting room floor

We highlighted new campaign finance takeaways for candidates running for Congress and statewide office on Saturday, and have more today on Northern Nevada local government and even more later this week on legislative races. For now, here are some juicy details you might have missed.

One historic finding: For the first time ever, Waymo donated $65,000 across 20 legislative campaigns, including to Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus (R-Wellington) and Assm. Tracy Brown-May (D-Las Vegas).

Congressional

• Nevada donors pick sides in NV-02 — Former Assm. Teresa Benitez-Thompson's (D-Reno) donors include Wynn Chairman Phil Satre, former National Association of Homebuilders Chairman Robert F. Nielsen, and retired Nevada prosecutor and Supporting Our Survivors founder Ronda Clifton. Small-business owner David Flippo (R) got donations from former treasurer and public defender Patty Cafferata, who gave to former state Sen. James Settelmeyer (R-Minden) during the primary and has also given to state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson). The same goes for the Farahi gaming family.
• So do national figures — Billionaires Richard Uihlein and Ross Perot Jr. gave to Flippo, and Democratic megadonors Karla Jurvetson and Kat Taylor — who is married to billionaire former presidential candidate Tom Steyer (D) — giving to Benitez-Thompson. New disclosures filed over the weekend provide even more up-to-date insight — over three days, Benitez-Thompson received an additional $33,500, which included a gift from Rory Gates. Flippo reported an additional $12,000.
• Other NV-02 tidbits — Also revealed in the latest filings — Benitez-Thompson has repaid the loan she used to start her campaign and is now paying herself a small salary. And Flippo received another donation from Robert McDowell, who's associated with one of his biggest assets. That gift put McDowell over legal limits and the campaign refunded it. 
• Marty's well-connected — In the 3rd Congressional District, O'Donnell got donations from national GOP figures, including Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, billionaire John Catsimatidis, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
• Potential 2028 presidential candidates — All four Democrats running for Congress in Nevada received donations from Liftoff PAC, which is associated with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Kelly has been splashing money around nationwide. Benitez-Thompson also received a donation from former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (D), whom she campaigned with this summer. Kelly and Buttigieg have become some of the most sought-after campaign trail surrogates as they purportedly consider 2028 presidential bids. But only one Democrat in the state got a donation from an even bigger name in the 2028 conversation: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) received money from her leadership PAC, Courage to Change. That and a rally this weekend show he's unusually unafraid of being associated with the left-wing star. 

Governor

• Who doesn't love food and travel? — On Gov. Joe Lombardo's (R) side, we saw more than $530 at The Star Hotel in Elko, about $900 at The Martin Hotel (do we sense a Basque theme here?) and $122 at The Griddle in Winnemucca. We also spotted an expense listing for The Boss' Ralston Reports. As for Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), his travel-related expenses included several out-of-state locations, but a few local ones caught our attention: Esmerelda's Restaurant in Las Vegas ($172) and Great Basin Brewing Co. in Carson City ($134). For what it's worth, Great Basin's sweet potato fries are pretty tasty.
• Donors that caught our attention — Lombardo received $10,000 from Nevada State Bank, $5,000 from the Fremont Hotel and Casino, $5,000 from the Suncoast Hotel and Casino and $5,000 from Club Cal Neva. A host of unions donated to Ford, along with $5,000 from Gold Coast Hotel and Casino and $5,000 from Wynn Resorts. Our reporters were intrigued by $5,000 donations each from a Phoebe Gates and an Edward Snowdon with an "o" (though it's not clear if they're the national figures, the donations were attributed to out-of-state addresses). As for national names we can verify, we caught a $1,000 contribution from Rep. Tim Kennedy's (D-NY) campaign, Kennedy for Congress, to Ford's direct campaign, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) donated $400,000 to the Ford-affiliated A More Affordable Nevada PAC.
• Bigelow's Lombardo influence — As we reported over the weekend, billionaire hotel mogul Robert Bigelow donated $6 million to the Republican Governors Association's (RGA) Nevada PAC. Now, our analysis shows Bigelow has given more than $20 million to Lombardo and affiliated groups since the governor first declared his candidacy in summer 2021. That makes up more than one-fifth of all money raised by groups supporting the governor — his campaign, affiliated PACs and the RGA's PAC — across the past five-plus years.

A Nevada 'dark money' group

• How much did The Nevada Alliance spend? — The left-leaning nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors is one of the biggest spenders in state politics — and it kept that up this past quarter. It donated $222,000 to Democratic groups and backed ballot initiatives. This included $70,000 from the group behind the ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution and $72,000 to a Democratic PAC named Home Means Nevada. In the third quarter, this PAC also gave $150,000 to the state Democratic Party and $100,000 to the group that is running ads for Ford.

— Mini Racker, Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren

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What we're reading and writing

Marty O'Donnell, the unicorn.

What happens on Discord does not stay on Discord.

David Flippo's campaign attributed a donation to a dead woman.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is coming back to Nevada. 

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Indy Ad Watch: Ad-ing even more

First in The Indy: The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA) is back this week. On Tuesday, the DLGA is dropping another six figures into Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui's (D-Las Vegas) election bid, bringing its total investment in the race to $1.86 million, up from $1.75 million earlier this month.

This latest spending blitz is going toward a new Spanish-language ad highlighting Jauregui's plan to curtail data centers' water use. The ad drops today and is running alongside two other ads, criticizing Jauregui's opponent incumbent Stavros Anthony (R.)

The DLGA's investment remains the largest in a Nevada lieutenant governor's race in state history.

Here's what else drew our attention on the airwaves:

• Attorney General Aaron Ford's (D) campaign began running a negative ad over the weekend criticizing his opponent, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R), for vetoing bills that would have provided tenant protections, eviction reforms and stopped corporate homebuying. The campaign ad, which AdImpact shows has $16,200 behind it so far, is part of a broader narrative Democrats are using to tie the state of the economy and pocketbook issues to Republicans and Lombardo. In last year's veto messages, Lombardo cited concerns that some tenant changes, such as restructuring the summary eviction process, would have imposed "onerous obligations on property owners in the event of lease violations" and overextended the government's reach into the housing market.
• The Freedom Caucus Fund is adding to the slew of attack ads running in Northern Nevada with a new spot targeting former Assm. Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno). The group has spent more than $757,000 on the race so far. 

— Isabella Aldrete, Tabitha Mueller and Mini Racker

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Mini Series: Guv love

🏇 New poll shows Lombardo-Ford neck and neck — An internal polling memo from Global Strategy Group shows Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) 1 percentage point behind Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) in a head-to-head matchup — 47 percent to 48 percent.  The memo noted that voters' impressions of Ford are improving, while Lombardo's image is "now negative," citing favorability ratings that show Ford's unfavorable rating is 42 percent, compared with Lombardo's 47 percent. Among registered nonpartisan and third-party voters, the memo described the race as "closely divided," with Ford receiving 45 percent support to Lombardo's 46 percent. 

• The survey was conducted Oct. 8-13 via a mix of telephone and text invitations to an online survey.  

🫡 Helping out the governor? — Officials with Nevada's employment agency took the rare step last week of holding a press conference to tout the latest job numbers, which showed the state's unemployment rate at the lowest level since February 2020. Asked by an Indy reporter whether the governor's office played a role in setting up the press conference, Chris Sewell, director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said yes.

• "The governor's office wanted us to do this," Sewell said. "These are good numbers for Nevada workers and Nevada businesses."
• Drew Galang, a spokesperson for the governor's office, said Monday that reporting "on Nevada's economic data has been fragmented, so we wanted to provide reporters direct access to" state officials. He added that the governor's staff was also on hand to address broader questions outside the agency's purview.

— Tabitha Mueller and Eric Neugeboren

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Looking Ahead

• Thursday and Friday, Oct. 22 and 23 — IndyFest!
• Friday, Oct. 30  — Early voting ends.

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A post that caught our eye: 

Awkward indeed.

We'll see you Friday.

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