The establishment-backed candidate in all but one of the important primaries identified by The Nevada Independent had a fundraising lead in the first quarter.

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.

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. 

With nearly a quarter of the Legislature holding legal day jobs or with a J.D. on their wall, it comes as little surprise that law firms, legal groups and lawyers contributed more than $607,000 to legislative campaigns last cycle.

Even amid a crushing global pandemic and the worst economic crisis to hit the state since the Great Recession, more than $10.6 million in big-money campaign contributions flowed to 61 Nevada lawmakers through the two-year 2020 campaign cycle. Of that money, nearly half — roughly $5.1 million — came from just five industries

With just one week to go before the start of the 2021 legislative session, a Nevada Independent analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the secretary of state show the state’s 61 sitting lawmakers raised more than $10.6 million in big-money donations (those greater than $200) in the 2019-2020 campaign cycle.

While Senate Democrats have been eyeing state Sen. Heidi Gansert’s Washoe County seat in their quest to secure a supermajority in that chamber, they have largely been playing defense on the Assembly side.

The collected data offers a picture, though, of how the most powerful and well-connected industries in Nevada — gaming, energy and organized labor — contribute to campaigns and offers a glimpse at how legislative campaigns are funded and operate. It also lends useful context as the 120-day Legislature gets underway, and lawmakers face pressure and requests from the very same businesses and entities that helped fund their campaigns.