PACs tied to Nevada legislators and political caucuses brought in about $7.8 million during the 2024 election cycle, taking advantage of looser campaign finance rules that enable PACs to take in unlimited donations and then funnel millions of dollars to allied lawmakers and groups.

Donors are prohibited from giving more than $10,000 directly to a candidate in a single election cycle — but those rules do not apply to PACs, meaning officials and party caucuses can set up a PAC, take in high-dollar donations and direct the dollars to other lawmakers and political causes.

In total, at least 19 PACs directly tied to state lawmakers brought in more than $4.2 million during the 2024 election cycle, while PACs affiliated with the party’s legislative caucuses received more than $3.6 million, with Democrat-affiliated groups receiving the overwhelming majority of the donations.

This analysis is part of The Nevada Independent’s “Follow the Money” series, which explores the industries that gave the most money to state legislators during the 2024 election cycle.

The presence of legislator-affiliated PACs underscores how influence in Nevada’s campaign finance apparatus goes beyond direct donations to lawmakers. The $7.8 million that these PACs brought in during the 2024 cycle is equivalent to about half of the total money raised directly by state lawmakers.

“Giving to PACs allows the recipient … potentially more flexibility in distributing that money,” said Jeremy Gelman, a political science professor at UNR. “It allows [donors] to inject a lot of money into the party while still giving the party leadership ways to move that money around in a strategic manner.”

Gelman said donors typically contribute to groups that hold political power and have like-minded goals.

Unions were the biggest contributor to legislative PACs, donating more than $1.8 million to almost entirely PACs affiliated with Democratic legislators or party caucuses.

Otherwise, the top industry donors to these PACs largely mirrored the biggest donors directly to lawmakers, although the third-largest category were candidates or lawmakers themselves.

The top individual donor was the PAC for America’s Future, a nationwide PAC powered by prominent Democratic donors and groups, including philanthropist Deborah Simon and megadonor Jonathan Soros. It spent more than $21 million during the 2024 cycle, including more than $800,000 to legislative PACs in Nevada.

The next largest donor was Citizens for Justice, the political arm of the Nevada Justice Association, a group of trial lawyers that was the top direct donor to state legislators during the 2024 cycle. The group gave $754,000 to legislative PACs, all affiliated with Democrats.

Legislator PACs

The Indy identified 19 PACs directly tied to state legislators: 13 Democrats and six Republicans.

Of the roughly $4.3 million received by legislator PACs, more than $3.8 million went to ones tied to Democrats.

PACs affiliated with Democratic leadership brought in the most money. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D-Las Vegas) received more than $1 million through his Nevada Strong PAC, while Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) was in second, with about $770,000 brought in through two different PACs.

“They recognize that by being selected as party leaders, a part of what comes with that job is raising a lot of money,” Gelman said. “A lot of it is molding the candidate pool and the caucuses that they’re hoping to get in Carson City after the election.”

Republican leaders raised much less money. Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus’ (R-Wellington) PAC raised about $73,000, while Assembly Minority Leader Gregory Hafen’s (R-Pahrump) group brought in $48,000. This is the first session the two Republican leaders are serving in their positions.

Instead, the most significant Republican fundraisers were PACs affiliated with Gov. Joe Lombardo. The Better Nevada and Nevada Way PACs brought in more than $11 million during the 2024 cycle, donating $100,000 directly to winning legislative candidates and $90,000 to candidates who lost their races.

Candidate-led PACs spend money on an array of things, ranging from consulting to travel costs. However, the overwhelming majority of the money raised goes directly to candidates as donations (which are capped at $10,000 per cycle) or allied PACs.

Of the more than $3.8 million that Democratic legislators’ PACs raised, about 60 percent went to other political groups, primarily Nevada Legislative Victory, a PAC focused on electing Democrats to the Legislature. The third-largest recipient of these PACs’ donations was Ending Carson City Corruption, a Democrat-led group that launched attack ads against Assm. Heidi Kasama (R-Las Vegas) last year for not being conservative enough.

Meanwhile, Republican-affiliated PACs spent a higher share of their money directly to candidates and consultants than Democrat-affiliated PACs did.

Caucus PACs

There are PACs affiliated with each major party in both chambers, such as the PACs for the Assembly Republicans and Nevada Senate Democrats.

Democrats significantly outraised Republicans, making up nearly 85 percent of the money raised across these four PACs.

Because redistricting made it clear during the 2024 cycle that Democrats would control the Legislature, Gelman said it makes sense that their PACs received the vast majority of the donations.

“Organizations, businesses, industries are looking for access to people with gavels, not the people who are in the minority,” Gelman said.

There are also other caucus PACs, such as the Nevada Black Legislative Caucus and Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus, whose members are all Democrats. Those two PACs raised about $450,000 combined during the 2024 cycle.