Look Who's Playing in #NVLeg Races Now

In case you thought Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson were too busy attacking President Obama with all their "PAC attacks" to bother with the rest of the ballot, there's more evidence proving that you're wrong. Just take a look at what they're doing now.

Companies controlled by Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson, the two most vocal casino operators who have been critical of national Democrats, particularly President Barack Obama, have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Republican group focused on state-level races, according to IRS filings and interviews with Republican operatives.

That committee, the Republican State Leadership Committee, has been funding mail pieces in the five competitive Nevada Senate races that will determine whether Republicans can wrest control of the state’s upper house from Democrats.

The Republican State Leadership Committee received a $475,000 contribution from Wynn Resorts in July, and $150,000 from the Las Vegas Sands, the company controlled by Adelson, in 2011.

Multiple Republican political sources confirmed that additional sums targeted at the state Senate level had been committed by the companies, though they would not provide exact figures. Tax documents for the group, which voluntarily reports contributions and expenses on a monthly basis, were only available for the period through Aug. 31.

In case you were wondering about the loads of mail, billboards, and other ads (attacking Democrats and/or promoting Republicans) that have been popping up lately, now you know how they've been paid for.

So why are they playing in #NVLeg races now? Basically, they know what's at stake. And they want to strengthen their grip on power both in Carson City and in Washington, DC.

Remember what we discussed in February.

So perhaps more so than ever before, the Legislature campaigns of 2012 will really matter. If one wants to fix the broken and outdated tax structure straight out of the 19th century, fully fund public education, improve our state's health care system, rebuild the rest of our state's public infrastructure, and properly invest in the kind of job creation that will benefit our economy for many generations to come, the choice will be crystal clear. And thanks to both redistricting last year and the major developments of the past week, we may actually have a unique and unprecedented opportunity to change the dynamics of Carson City for the better.

Wynn & Adelson are threatened by this, so they want to stop it. Expect even more of their big bucks to drop in the coming days, as we're now in the closing month of the 2012 campaign. It's all about maintaining their power and the status quo for them.