What we learned from Nevada's latest campaign finance reports

Incumbents in Nevada's statewide and federal races largely outraised their general election opponents from April through June, while Democratic candidates were in the lead in open statewide contests.

The only incumbents in these races facing a fundraising deficit are Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony (R), who raised considerably less money than their challengers this quarter but still have more robust campaign bank accounts. 

Meanwhile, Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) was once again the most prolific fundraiser in the Silver State.

Campaign finance reports released Wednesday are one of the final looks at political candidates' finances ahead of the November general election. Although money is not the end-all, be-all in determining election winners, it makes it easier for candidates to get their message across, through everything from television ads to yard signs.

Read below for the money details in statewide and federal contests.

Federal

Republicans applauded the third quarter in a row in which their nominee in the 1st Congressional District, state Sen. Carrie Buck (R-Henderson) outraised Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV). 

Buck brought in $812,000 in the second quarter, significantly more than any other GOP nominee who has faced off against Titus in the district, and more than double the congresswoman's haul. Buck also spent far more than Titus this spring, with the largest sums going to digital fundraising services and mail. The Democrat had $1.3 million in the bank compared to Buck's $626,000, suggesting she has plenty to fund the fight ahead. 

In the 2nd Congressional District, Republican nominee David Flippo reported raising $542,000 — but that included $350,000 in self-funding. The $192,000 he brought in from other sources is less than the $200,000 Democratic nominee Teresa Benitez-Thompson raised. Plus, after he spent more than $1 million during primary season, the Democrat has more cash on hand. Benitez-Thompson remains a long shot in the safely Republican district, especially given her opponent's deep pockets.

In the 3rd Congressional District, historically the state's most competitive battleground, video game composer Marty O'Donnell (R) spent nearly $1 million as he secured the Republican nomination this spring. Though he still has $2.4 million thanks to his previous self-funding, he did not pour any more of his own money into his bid this quarter. His opponent, Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV) has the biggest war chest she's ever had at $3.7 million.

Finally, in the 4th Congressional District, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV) reported a commanding lead in fundraising and cash in hand over GOP nominee Cody Whipple. Though Horsford was the only congressional incumbent to outspend his opponent in the second quarter, his seat is considered the safest battleground.

Statewide

Governor 

Attorney General Aaron Ford's (D) gubernatorial campaign raised more than $1.4 million on the campaign side and $1.1 million through affiliated political action committees (PACs) — a record haul for a non-incumbent governor in the second quarter of the year.

That total fell far short of Gov. Joe Lombardo's (R) fundraising haul of more than $16 million across his affiliated PACs, consisting of $2.1 million via his direct campaign and nearly $14 million from affiliated PACs.

The pro-Lombardo Better Nevada PAC received $2.5 million from billionaire hotel mogul Robert Bigelow, who owns the Budget Suites of America hotel chain and spent more than $50 million supporting Lombardo and other Republican candidates in 2022. The PAC also received $5 million from the Republican Governors Association and $1 million from venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and his wife.

John Fisher, the owner of the Athletics, also contributed a maximum of $10,000 to Lombardo's direct campaign.

Top donors to Ford and his affiliated PACs in the last quarter included the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, which gave $500,000 to the Ford-affiliated Forward Nevada PAC and a $400,000 contribution to the same PAC from Aaron Sosnick, a philanthropist and hedge fund manager.

About 64 percent of the money Ford raised from donors who gave more than $100 came from outside Nevada, compared to 25 percent for Lombardo. Donations of less than $100 accounted for 0.4 percent of Lombardo's direct contributions, whereas Ford's were 13 percent.

Though Lombardo's second quarter fundraising dwarfed that of every other candidate, the direct campaign total was slightly lower than his first-quarter fundraising haul of more than $2.3 million.

Across affiliated PACs and direct campaigns, Ford's campaign said it has more than $3.7 million in cash on hand heading into the general election. Lombardo's campaign has more than $9 million going into the general election, and likely much more from affiliated PACs (which are not required to report cash on hand totals).

The governor and Republican-aligned groups have spent more than $13 million on ads since December 2025, while Democrats have spent only about $77,000.

Attorney General

The biggest open statewide race is for attorney general, and there's a big fundraising difference.

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) raked in almost $600,000 in direct donations last quarter, in addition to about $120,000 from connected PACs. Meanwhile, lawyer and Republican nominee Adriana Guzmán Fralick accrued more than $165,000, with about $5,000 coming from loan to herself.

Of direct donations from people who gave more than $100, more than half of the money Cannizzaro received was from out of state. Almost all of Guzmán Fralick's money from these donors came from within Nevada.

Both candidates easily won their primaries, but they also benefited from significant ad campaigns paid for by external groups. 

Some of the pro-Cannizzaro ads were tied to the Leadership in Nevada PAC, which reported raising $745,000 last quarter. This included $40,000 from a group bankrolled by payday lending companies and $120,000 from the Nevada Alliance, a nonprofit that does not have to disclose its donors, commonly referred to as a "dark money" group.

Meanwhile, Fralick got an assist from the Nevada Frontline Victory Fund, an arm of a national group focused on electing Republican attorneys general. All of the money the Nevada-based group received last quarter came from its parent organization, which has also been funded by from dark money groups.

Other statewide offices

There's a major fundraising discrepancy in the secretary of state's race.

Republican Jim Marchant, who upset Lombardo's pick in the June primary, has a paltry $14 in his bank account after raising just over $1,000 from April through June, a remarkably small number for a statewide nominee. He ran in the same race four years ago and raised more than $250,000 in the same period.

On the other side, incumbent Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) raked in about $430,000 in the last quarter. He has more than $1 million in his campaign account for the first time this election cycle.

Much less money is going into the three other statewide races.

In the lieutenant governor's race, Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) raised almost twice as much as incumbent Anthony, but her bank account has less money. In the open treasurer's race, Democrat Tya Mathis-Coleman also doubled the fundraising haul of her GOP opponent, Drew Johnson.

Finally, in the controller's race, incumbent Andy Matthews (R) has a commanding cash and fundraising advantage over Democrat Michael MacDougall.