Like clockwork, the Federal Election Commission first quarter fundraising deadline came this week, reminding elected officials (and tired journalists) that the 2026 cycle is officially underway.

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.

Senate Republicans have decided to move forward with a controversial budget technique that could increase the likelihood of honoring Trump’s campaign promise of “no taxes on tips.”

The attorney general and secretary of state in Nevada, a presidential battleground, defended their state's elections as fair, secure and transparent.

O’Donnell ran in the crowded Republican primary for Congressional District 3 seat in 2024 but came in fourth with 21 percent of the vote.

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.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said the order calls for safeguards that already exist in Nevada and that his office is determining how to proceed.

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.

Several voting rights groups warn the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act will pose a barrier for millions of American women and others who have changed their legal name.

The top Democrat and Republican in the Assembly are joining forces on a bill that would require all sample ballots to be sent to voters before mail ballots are distributed. An amendment also would provide a clearer timeline for when mail ballots must be sent to voters.

The bill would require the addition of at least 10 drop boxes in Clark County and five in Washoe County. It’s the latest effort by legislative Democrats to speed up ballot counting without shortening the time frame on when mail ballots can be received.

On Thursday, the Democratic National Committee asked a federal appeals court to deny an appeal filed in a nearly yearlong legal case brought by state and national Republicans seeking to end Nevada’s practice of accepting mail ballots as many as four days after an election, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. 

With the party locked out of power and having lost the popular vote for the first time in decades, Blanco (who has worked in Nevada since 2009) ran for DNC vice chair with a motto of “back to basics” — a return to the organizing principles she learned under former DNC Chair Howard Dean and the late Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. 

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.

The change marks an important symbolic victory for the Nevada GOP, less than three months after winning a presidential election in the Silver State for the first time since 2004.

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.

A viral Reddit post accusing Republicans of switching votes in Nevada from Kamala Harris to Donald Trump has been viewed thousands of times, but it fails to account for other factors that easily explain certain highlighted disparities in voting data.

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.