Looser campaign finance rules enable legislative PACs to receive unrestricted funds to funnel directly to lawmakers and allied groups.

The Nevada Justice Association, through its political arm, donated more than $320,000 directly to state lawmakers during the 2024 cycle, in addition to nearly $500,000 to PACs associated with prominent Democratic legislators.

The pharmaceutical industry was responsible for about $300,000 of the total contributions, while health care groups — defined as anything from hospitals and insurers to patient advocacy groups — donated about $1.4 million.

The total represents an increase from the amount of money given to state legislators during the 2022 election cycle. Similar to prior election cycles, organized labor overwhelmingly donated to Democrats.

It is the second straight cycle where the industry was the second-highest category of donor to state lawmakers, slotting in behind gaming groups, but this year’s haul had much more of a Republican lean than the 2022 cycle.

It’s the first time since the 2018 cycle that casinos and other gaming groups donated more than any other industry, and the most they have donated in a single cycle since The Indy began tracking contributions to lawmakers in the 2016 election cycle.

Legislators raised more than $17.3 million from high-dollar donors in the 2024 election cycle, with Democrats making up more than two-thirds of the haul.

The secretary of state's office is eyeing reforms to the process, as the only way that state officials could force the fines to be paid is through a resource-intensive lawsuit.

More than $40 million was raised by backers of the abortion and ranked-choice voting ballot questions in 2024, primarily from groups that do not have to disclose their donors.

Gov. Joe Lombardo raised more than $3.2 million in 2024 and has more than $5.5 million in cash on hand as the Republican governor gears up for his second legislative session and a high-profile re-election campaign.

Much of the funding driving the marquee ballot questions is coming from large, out-of-state groups that are working to advance these policies via ballot measures in multiple states and are fueling high-dollar TV ad blitzes.

Across the 10 contests most likely to determine whether Democrats secure a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers, the Democratic candidate in six of those races outraised their Republican opponent from July through September.

From July through September, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) raised about $3.5 million more than her GOP opponent, Sam Brown. In the three House races in Southern Nevada, Democrats raked in hundreds of thousands more than their opponents.

The Nevada Alliance has given more than $7 million to left-leaning causes, but does not have to disclose its donors because of federal tax reporting rules.

An analysis found 26 new PACs and political nonprofits were registered between April 1 and the June 11 primary. The groups raked in more than $1.6 million in that period, which only became public this month.

The contribution was the Sands’ largest contribution on the state level this election cycle.

With the primary finalized and congressional contests now set, Democrats — and a self-funding independent — maintained massive financial leads over their Republican opponents through the end of June.

Across 10 contested legislative races throughout the second quarter, Democratic and Republican candidates each led the fundraising race in five of them.

The haul broke the record set by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) two years ago and builds off a record-setting $5 million raised in the first quarter.

In the two races in which recounts took place, vote totals shifted by at most five votes.