Our top takeaways from Nevada's new campaign finance reports

Millions of dollars poured into Nevada's congressional and statewide races from July through September, according to campaign finance reports filed Thursday, giving the final financial outlook for many candidates ahead of Election Day.

Democrats had healthy fundraising leads in all but one of the state's four congressional districts. Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) reported more direct campaign contributions in the race for governor than Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) for the first time this election cycle, though the incumbent outspent Ford.

Large amounts of outside dollars have also poured into the race, with the Republican Governors Association (RGA) donating $9.5 million to a Lombardo-affiliated PAC and the Democratic Governors Association contributing $7 million to a separate affiliated PAC. Billionaire hotel mogul Robert Bigelow, a longtime Lombardo megadonor, gave $6 million to the RGA's Nevada PAC.

Those big outside spending numbers have made the governor's race the one with the highest ad spending in Nevada this election cycle, according to AdImpact. 

The Democratic Governors Association-affiliated PAC, A More Affordable Nevada PAC, has led Democratic ad spending in the Nevada governor's race, with AdImpact showing it has spent or reserved more than $14.1 million on campaign ads as of Friday morning. In comparison, AdImpact shows the Lombardo-affiliated Better Nevada PAC has spent or reserved more than $29.3 million in campaign ads. 

Many of the other statewide races had Democrats ahead in fundraising from July through September, especially the races for attorney general and secretary of state. The only other statewide race with a Republican in the lead was for state controller.

Read more to see details on the fundraising hauls — and the candidates' top donors. You can click the links below to scroll to a specific section.

Congressional

Governor

Attorney general and secretary of state

Other statewide races

Democrats up in three of four congressional races

In the 1st Congressional District, state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson) outraised Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) for the fourth quarter in a row, the only GOP challenger in the country to outraise an incumbent that often. Titus' ability to tap into her larger war chest, however, meant she spent more than Buck and still had more cash on hand in a district where she is heavily favored.

In Northern Nevada's 2nd Congressional District, former Assembly Majority Leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno) had the standout fundraising quarter, bringing in more than any Democratic nominee has in the district in 15 years. 

She even outraised the Republican nominee, setting aside the six-figure loan small-business owner David Flippo (R) made to his campaign. Flippo is the only Nevada congressional candidate still self-funding and questions remain about how he can afford it. Though his campaign provided a draft financial disclosure to The Nevada Independent late last month, it still has not been filed with the House clerk.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) had another strong fundraising quarter, while video game composer Marty O'Donnell (R) has deployed almost all of the money he invested early on. Even so, Lee outspent him and had seven figures in the bank going into October. On Friday, O'Donnell gave his campaign another quarter of a million dollars.

In the 4th Congressional District, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) once again handily outraised small-business owner Cody Whipple (R) and spent about double what his challenger did. If the GOP nominee pulls off an upset, he previously told The Nevada Independent, it will be because of his ground game, not money. 

Democrats up in governor direct campaign fundraising

Though Ford outraised Lombardo, the sitting governor dwarfed his opponent in how much he raised through affiliated political action committees and from national groups. 

About 14 percent of Ford's direct fundraising came from donations of $100 or less, while those types of donations made up about 2 percent of Lombardo's direct fundraising haul. Heading into October, Lombardo reported $2.8 million in his campaign bank account, compared with Ford's more than $1.3 million.

Direct candidate donations are limited to $10,000, and Ford and Lombardo alike reported large amounts. Those rules don't apply to political action committees. 

When looking only at PAC fundraising without donations directly from national governors groups, Lombardo reported raising more than $5.8 million, while Ford reported nearly $2.7 million.

The Lombardo-aligned Better Nevada PAC received $1.8 million from a separate Lombardo-affiliated Nevada Way PAC and $750,000 from The Revitalization Project, a Virginia-based dark money nonprofit focused on the economy and "the promotion of pro-growth policies." 

The Nevada Way PAC reported receiving $1 million from Station Casinos, $250,000 from Southwest Gas, $160,000 from MGM Resorts and $150,000 from South Point Hotel and Casino, though the campaign did not include these donations in its overall fundraising total.

Both PACs made up a large share of third-quarter donations to the state Republican party, contributing more than $1.8 million combined.

The Ford-affiliated Forward Nevada PAC reported receiving big donations from unions: $500,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in Washington, D.C., $250,000 from The Service Employees International Union in Washington, D.C. and $200,000 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' PAC Educational Fund.

Democrats up big in attorney general, secretary of state fundraising 

Outside of the governor's race, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas), brought in the most money of any statewide candidate.

Across direct donations to her campaign and PAC fundraising, she raked in more than $1.6 million from July through September. That was almost six times the amount raised by her opponent, Adriana Guzmán Fralick (R).

Cannizzaro's top donor was AFSCME, a union whose Nevada branch represents thousands of state workers. The national group gave $500,000 to Cannizzaro's PAC. The union has also been a client of her husband, lawyer Nathan Ring.

Her PAC also brought in $90,000 from the Houston-based philanthropist Susan Sarofim and $50,000 from Uber. Her direct campaign account also saw dozens of maximum donations, including from various hospitality groups and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D).

Meanwhile, Guzmán Fralick brought in about $275,000 in direct donations, including money from various Republican, gaming and contractor groups. She also received $10,000 combined from GOP megadonors Ben and Felicia Horowitz. Ben Horowitz is the co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

National attorneys general groups are also spending in the race. The Republican Attorneys General Association gave more than $1.1 million to its Nevada group in the quarter, while the group's Democratic counterpart spent $1 million. Together, these two groups have spent or reserved almost $3 million in ad space in the race. 

The fundraising totals in the race for Nevada secretary of state, who serves as the state's top elections official, was even more lopsided.

Incumbent Cisco Aguilar (D) raked in about $575,000 in direct donations, receiving maximum contributions from various unions. He also received the maximum amount from the State + Local Election Alliance, a group focused on defending democracy.

These totals dwarfed the haul from his Republican opponent, former state Assm. Jim Marchant (R-Las Vegas), who has predicted he would struggle garnering support from top officials because of his "strong stance" on elections, which includes unregistering all voters.

Marchant raised about $21,000 from July through September after only raising about $1,000 through the first six months of the year. He received donations from certain Republican groups, including the Churchill County Republican Central Committee and Washoe County Republican Women.

Dems up in treasurer, lieutenant governor races, down in controller race

A surprising amount of money has gone into Nevada's lieutenant governor's race this cycle, a technically part-time position.  

Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) brought in about $285,000 in the third quarter, receiving money from various Democratic, union and gaming entities. 

She slightly outraised her opponent, incumbent Stavros Anthony (R), by about $40,000, though Anthony has spent nearly twice as much as Jauregui. Anthony raked in $10,000 from Anthony Marnell III and his wife, fixtures in the state's gaming industry, and $5,000 from Dollar Loan Center CEO Chuck Brennan.

In the treasurer's race, Democrat Tya Mathis-Coleman brought in a haul of $130,000 in direct donations — with money coming from unions and gaming groups — and has $119,000 in cash on hand. The Republican candidate in the race, policy analyst Drew Johnson, raised about $93,000, receiving a $5,000 boost from the Lombardo-associated Nevada Way PAC. 

In the race for controller, the state's chief financial officer, incumbent Andy Matthews (R) is significantly outpacing his opponent, high school teacher Michael MacDougall (D). He received more than $15,000 from various Republican groups, while MacDougall received no direct donations of more than $1,000.