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Rosen outpaces Heller in second quarter fundraising in U.S. Senate bid; Lee leads pack among House candidates

Riley Snyder
Riley Snyder
Megan Messerly
Megan Messerly
Michelle Rindels
Michelle Rindels
Election 2018
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Fundraising in Nevada’s key federal races is heating up after the June primary election, with frontrunners raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash.

Sums raised in the U.S. Senate race dwarfed all others as expected this cycle, with incumbent Republican Dean Heller and challenger Democrat Jacky Rosen raising a combined $5.88 million. The top candidates for Nevada’s 3rd and 4th Congressional Districts brought in another combined $1.84 million.

Candidates for federal office faced a July 15 deadline to turn in their quarterly report to the Federal Election Commission, which covers the period between April 1 and the end of June. It’s also the first reporting deadline after Nevada’s June 12 primary election.

Democrat Susie Lee, an education advocate running in the 3rd District, was the most prolific fundraiser of Nevada’s congressional candidates, bringing in $872,000 over the last three months. Her Republican opponent, businessman Danny Tarkanian, raised $307,000 over the same period.

In the 4th Congressional District, Steven Horsford had a stronger fundraising quarter than Cresent Hardy, raising $433,236 to Hardy’s $228,617 as they prepare for a rematch of their 2014 contest. But Horsford — who faced a competitive primary this cycle — started the upcoming quarter with less cash on hand, $197,685, compared with Hardy’s $304,255.

Here’s a look at what the top candidates for the state’s congressional districts and U.S. Senate race have raised over the past three months.

U.S. Senate

For the fourth quarter in a row, Rosen reported outpacing Heller in fundraising, but the Republican incumbent senator continues to hold a significant cash on hand advantage.

Congresswoman and U.S. Senate hopeful Jacky Rosen speaks at the Nevada State Democratic Convention at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nev., Saturday, June 23, 2018. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)

Rosen raised more than $3.5 million over the last three months and ended June with more than $3.8 million in the bank, according to early fundraising totals released last week by her campaign. That total dwarfs what the Democratic congresswoman raised in the first quarter of the year by about $900,000.

But Rosen has only increased her cash on hand by about $300,000, which means she has spent about $3.2 million over the last three months, primarily on media buys on television and digital platforms.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nevada) smiles after speaking at the Hispanics in Politics breakfast at Doña Maria Tamales Restaurant on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)

Heller’s campaign announced last week that it had raised $2.38 million over the quarter, and had more than $5.8 million cash on hand — nearly $2 million more than Rosen. His campaign said it was the senator’s best fundraising quarter of his career, and that his cash on hand amount was higher than either Catherine Cortez Masto or Joe Heck’s totals in the 2016 election.

Outside groups have spent around $2.7 million so far this election cycle on the Senate race, and that number will likely increase as Election Day draws closer.

CD3

Lee outraised Tarkanian this quarter, raking in about $872,000 to his $307,000. Lee’s cash on hand at the end of June was nearly double Tarkanian’s — $1.1 million to his $656,000 — ahead of what is likely to be a fiercely competitive general election against Tarkanian, who ran for this seat in 2016 and only narrowly lost to the incumbent, Rep. Jacky Rosen, by 1.3 percentage points.

The two are vying to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers Summerlin, Henderson and the southwest portion of Las Vegas and stretches to the southernmost tip of the state. Democrats have a narrow 7,000-person voter registration advantage over Republicans in the district.

Democratic 3rd Congressional District candidate Susie Lee as seen during an interview inside The Innevation Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. Daniel Clark/The Nevada Independent, Follow @DanJClarkPhoto

Lee increased her cash on hand this quarter by about $143,000, up from $996,000 at the end of March, while Tarkanian’s savings diminished by about $73,000, down from $729,000 at the end of the first quarter of the year. But Tarkanian has also paid out $379,000 over the last three months — including a $150,000 loan repayment to himself — while Lee has spent about $730,000.

Twenty-two people maxed out their contributions to Lee this quarter, meaning they have now contributed $5,400 to her campaign. They include: Michael Bills, the president of BlueStem Asset Management; venture capitalist Brook Byers; Cashman Equipment CEO Mary Kaye Cashman; real estate developer Niko Elmaleh; investor Richard Gunther and his wife Lois Gunther, a homemaker; and Ernest & Young’s Global Director of Gaming Services Thomas Roche.

Danny Tarkanian, Republican candidate for Nevada Congressional District 3, during an interview on Wednesday, April 11, 2018. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)

Seventeen people did the same for Tarkanian, including: Dotty’s founder Craig Estey and three other family members; Dotty’s president Paula Graziano; two members of the wealthy Fertitta family, Jill and Lorenzo Fertitta; billionaire poker high-roller Cary Katz; RagingWire Data Centers Inc. chairman George Macricostas; BQ Resorts founder Michael Muldoon; and entrepreneur Toni Stephenson.

CD4

Hardy reported raising $228,617 in the three months ending July 1, and he ends the period with $304,255 cash on hand. Major contributors included Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam; Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison and his law firm Hutchison and Steffen; Brady Industries President and CEO Travis Brady; Dotty’s tavern founder Craig Estey; and the NRA Political Victory Fund PAC.

Ex-Rep. Cresent Hardy. Photo courtesy U.S. Congress.

He also received thousands of dollars from leadership PACs affiliated with Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and House Speaker Paul Ryan; the Safari Club International PAC, a group with the stated goal of preserving the right to hunt; and the Koch Industries Inc. PAC, affiliated with the billionaire industrialist Koch Brothers.

Hardy’s biggest expenditures were for digital ads, consulting from the firm Red Rock Strategies, and for the services of Campaign Manager Ross Hemminger.

Horsford raised about $433,236 in the last quarter and heads into the 3rd quarter with $197,685 cash on hand.

Major donors to Horsford include Deep Roots marijuana dispensary COO Ryan Breeden; Los Angeles philanthropists Lois and Richard Gunther; Zappos.com founder Tony Hsieh; Apple founder Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs; Oasis Cannabis CEO Benjamin Sillitoe; and R&R Partners CEO Billy Vassiliadis.

Congressional District 4 Primary candidate Steven Horsford during a forum sponsored by the Clark County Black Caucus on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)

He also received thousands from AFSCME; leadership PACs from former Vice President Joe Biden; PACs for the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus; the Planned Parenthood Action Fund; a joint fundraising PAC called Bay State for a Majority; and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

His major spending included close to $70,000 to San Francisco-based AMS Communications for direct mail; payments to his campaign manager Matt McKnight; consulting fees to Valentine Communications, which focuses on inner-city communities; about $20,000 in communications consulting from Arlington, VA-based Off Script Media; and $6,500 to the Nevada State Democratic Party for access to voter files.

CD1

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus reported raising just over $102,000 between April and the end of June, while spending just over $124,055 over the same time period.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, acknowledges the crowd during an election night party at Aria for Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak after he won the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent)

Titus, who easily won the Democratic party primary in June in this heavily Democratic district, reported having around $347,000 in available cash on hand at the end of the reporting period. That marks a roughly $32,000 decrease from the end of the April reporting period.

The majority of Titus’s donations came from political PACs — a total of 66,500 came from those organizations, while roughly $35,900 came from individual donations.

Her general election opponent will be Joyce Bentley, who defeated Fred Horne in the district’s Republican primary last month. Bentley has yet to file any reports with the Federal Election Commission.

CD2

After easily defeating former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle in the Northern Nevada district’s Republican primary, Rep. Mark Amodei added a substantial amount of fundraising to his campaign war chest throughout the last reporting period.

Republican Rep. Mark Amodei speaks at a town hall event in Carson City on Feb. 22, 2017. Photo by David Calvert.

Amodei reported raising more than $252,000 throughout the fundraising period, while spending just over $146,098. His fundraising totals meant his available cash on hand jumped from just over $288,000 at the end of the April reporting period to more than $395,000 by the end of June — an increase of more than $107,000.

Of his total raised, more than $117,000 of Amodei’s haul came from PACs, while $135,850 came from individuals.

His Democratic opponent, Clint Koble, lags far behind Amodei in fundraising and reported raising $27,569 over the reporting period. Koble, the former executive director of the Nevada Rural Development Council, reported spending around $21,000 over the period and has nearly $8,600 in available cash on hand.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 1:37pm on July 17, 2018 to correct Travis Brady as Brady Industries President and CEO instead of Brady Industries Vice President.

Disclosure: Several Indy donors are mentioned in this story. You can see a full list of donors here.

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