Sands companies give state lawmakers about $200,000 in two weeks

By Megan Messerly

Monday, June 13, 2016 | 2:18 p.m.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. and its subsidiaries donated more than $200,000 to Nevada state legislators between May 21 and June 9, according to campaign finance reports that were due Friday.

Republican legislative candidates received the biggest sums of Sands money in the most recent disclosure period.

Assemblymen P.K. O’Neill and Chris Edwards — both facing competitive primaries — each received $25,000 in combined contributions from Las Vegas Sands Corp., Sands Expo and Convention Center, and the Venetian. Sen. Scott Hammond and Senate candidate Heidi Gansert each took in $20,000.

The company couched the donations as fulfilling a promise to support legislators after the 2015 legislative session.

“The company made a commitment to support legislators who stood up for important issues, like increased education funding, in the previous session,” Sands spokesman Ron Reese said in a statement. “We’re happy to keep our word.”

A number of Republican incumbents who received recent Sands donations voted for the governor’s $1.4 billion tax package — some of which went to fund increased spending for education — and face competitive primaries from anti-tax challengers. Sands, however, also donated money to six of the 10 Assembly incumbents who voted against the tax increase.

The company donated to a number of Democratic candidates, too. Sen. Kelvin Atkinson received $10,000 from Sands in his re-election bid, while Sen. Pat Spearman took in $9,000. Assemblyman Elliot Anderson received $7,500.

In total, Sands and its subsidiaries donated $211,500 to state legislative candidates this period. That’s more than the $56,000 the companies donated to legislative candidates in the first five months of the year and the $92,500 they donated to the candidates in all of 2015 combined.

The late donations in such a compressed period could be Sands wanting to support people who voted for the tax increase, UNLV political science Professor David Damore said.

But it also could be a political move to curry favor ahead of a special session Sands wants this summer to approve funding for a Sands-backed Las Vegas stadium, he said.

“Some of it is about protecting incumbents — people who did vote for the taxes — and some of it is just about smart politics. ‘Who do we need if we do get the stadium project this summer?’” Damore said. “Giving to Democrats in noncompetitive races? It’s about access.”

The company did not comment on any connection between the donations and a possible special session in its statement.

Sands also spent another $80,000 on county commission races in the first five months of this year, plus another $40,000 last year.

The company also donated $500,000 in February and another $175,000 in May to the Energy Choice Initiative, which would break up NV Energy’s monopoly and allow customers to choose power providers.

Sands is the main financial backer of the proposed ballot initiative.