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 former Clark County sheriff’s victory — bolstered by $8.1 million in big-money contributions ($200 or more) — made him the only Republican to unseat a Democratic governor last year, even though he was outraised by a 3-2 margin through Election Day by his opponent, incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak.

During the 2022 election cycle, Nevada lawmakers raised a record $13 million through thousands of big-money contributions (those greater than $200) from a variety of groups and entities including unions, real estate developers, major companies and lawyers.

Still, even among smaller categories of donors, such as the mining industry and education groups, politically powerful organizations helped drive six-figure contributions across dozens of campaigns.

Unlike previous elections in which NV Energy was the dominant political fundraising force among energy companies in the state, the 2022 cycle saw Southwest Gas emerge as the industry’s top legislative contributor, giving more than $196,000 to NV Energy’s nearly $185,000.

Thirty-seven Democratic lawmakers received an average of $11,326, compared with an average of $10,261 for 21 Republican lawmakers.

Out of more than $856,000 in campaign contributions to state lawmakers last cycle from lawyers, law groups and legal political action committees, no single donor spent more on legislative campaigns than Citizens for Justice — the political arm of the Nevada Justice Association, an organization for Nevada trial lawyers. 

Major political donors in the health care and pharmaceutical industries pumped more than $1.3 million into legislative campaigns in the 2022 election cycle, ahead of a 2023 legislative session likely to be rife with fierce debate over health care issues. 

Direct contributions from outside PACs and political groups also broadly boosted Democratic candidates more than Republicans. At the top of the list, for instance, is the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the national party’s state legislative campaign arm.

After the 2020 cycle saw cumulative contributions from the gaming industry to Nevada lawmakers nosedive to $769,000 amid plummeting gaming revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry bounced back in 2022, dishing out more than $1.2 million to 55 legislators. 

Standing alone at the top of the pack, the Nevada Association of Realtors, also known as Nevada REALTORS, gave more money than any other group, contributing more than $432,000 from the association and its multiple political action committees.

With all or nearly all contributions from AFSCME and other major union groups going to legislative Democrats, the 2022 election cycle continued a longstanding trend of union support for the party.

Among 25 different industries categorized by The Nevada Independent, union and labor groups led the way with a combined $1.48 million contributed to 59 state lawmakers.

The multi-million dollar growth in fundraising for legislators came amid a competitive election cycle in Nevada with every top office up for grabs.