At least $1,962,737 -- Includes campaign contributions from the 1992-96 elections

• Search Nevada gambling contributions from 1992-96

June 9, 1997

The ground zero of American gambling, Nevada permits and encourages nearly every form of wagering under the sun, except non-charitable lotteries. Home to the biggest players in the business, the Silver State has been run by the Vegas gaming lobby since the days of Bugsy Siegel. Today gaming is the state's largest employer, largest revenue generator, and largest investor -- and accounts for more than a third of all taxes paid into the state's general fund, giving its lobbyists huge clout in Carson City. Gaming is also the biggest campaign contributor in Nevada politics; in the 1994 elections only two candidates backed by the gaming industry lost, and in 1996 only one anointed candidate failed.

Not surprisingly, Nevada's requirements for lobbying reports are utterly toothless. Lobbyists must register their names, but only need to list their expenditures while the state Legislature is in session, which is only for part of every odd-numbered year. Mother Jones requested copies of these records and, not suprisingly, discovered books nearly full of zeros (view a sample page).

Similarly, the state doesn't make campaign finance records available in electronic form. Luckily, the Western States Center, a public interest group based in Helena, Mont., has done the job for them. We asked WSC to run select gambling names and keywords through its database of campaign contribution records, only to find gambling interests gave at least $1,962,737 to Nevada candidates in the last three election cycles, from 1992 through 1996. For readers who like to get their hands dirty, the MoJo Wire has built a searchable database of these contributions, all the way back to 1992. But be warned: It doesn't include contributions to PACs or the millions of dollars in soft money the gaming industry gives to state parties. Once again, we've caught only the tiger's tail:

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