Has a Nevada casino magnate been a major backer of the GOP's defense of the Senate?
Nevada casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam Adelson, who is a physician and Israel's richest person, have been the largest donors during the 2020 campaign to Sen. Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund, contributing a total of $60 million. The fund is a "super-PAC," a campaign fund that can back various candidates in the party's bid to hold majority control.
Adelson, the wealthiest man in Nevada, founded Las Vegas Sands, which operates casino-hotels in Las Vegas, Singapore and China. Open Secrets, compiling Federal Election Commission reports, says Sands-affiliated individuals made donations of $44 million in 2016 and $62 million in 2018 to Republican-related groups. Beyond the founder's support for the Senate Leadership Fund, Adelson and Sands have donated $61 million to other Republican groups ahead of the 2020 elections.