In Las Vegas Sands, Dr. Miriam Adelson Donates $9 Million to Texas Political Campaigns
Miriam Adelson, a 78-year-old billionaire worth an estimated $30 billion and the controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands after her late husband passed away, is increasing her political spending. Although she hasn't yet directly supported Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, Adelson is focusing her efforts on Texas.
Her husband, Sheldon Adelson, who passed away in January 2021 from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 87, had long sought to expand his casino empire into Texas. The company has been following his mission to establish a presence in the Lone Star State by investing millions of dollars in recent years in lobbying state lawmakers to legalize Las Vegas-style casino gambling.
Although Texas hasn't yet legalized casino gambling, Adelson continues to be interested in the state. In addition to acquiring a controlling interest in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks last year from billionaire Mark Cuban in a transaction worth $3.5 billion, Adelson is working on bringing Sands to Texas.
In an effort to form political alliances in Austin, it was reported this week that Adelson has created a political action committee (PAC) in Texas and filled it with funds for the 2024 elections.
Texas Defense Fund
Recently disclosed campaign finance records show that Adelson, while not heavily involved on the federal level, is active in Texas. A newly created committee called the Texas Defense PAC has a $9 million war chest, with all the money coming directly from Adelson, who wrote the check earlier this month.
The Texas Defense PAC is supporting Republican state legislators in their efforts to defend their primary positions against candidates considered by traditional Republicans to be "far-right" and "extreme." The PAC has given $400,000 each to State Reps. Frederick Frazier (R-McKinney), Justin Holland (R-Rockwall), and John Kuempel (R-Seguin).
Kuempel was responsible for a bill last year to authorize casino gaming and sports betting. House bill 2843 was filibustered after facing long odds in the Senate and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) expressing his opposition to gambling in the governor's administration.
The Texas Defense PAC is also supporting John McQueeney's campaign for House District 97's seat, which is being vacated by Rep. Craig Goldman as he runs for Congress. McQueeney received $1.3 million from the PAC and supports bringing casino resorts to Texas.
"I would support giving the voters a choice on resort-style casinos with a limited number of licenses in the state," McQueeney said to CBS News this month. "A lot of people talk about the negativity of casinos, but that negativity already exists with backroom poker games."
"If we want to be serious about property tax relief, we need to be serious about revenue generation," McQueeney added. "I support giving the voters a choice."
McQueeney believes only destination casinos with convention facilities should be discussed. Sands is one of the world's most respected integrated resort operators and is believed to have started the all-encompassing casino complex concept in Singapore with its Marina Bay Sands development.
Clock Ticking
Adelson and her husband donated over $200 million to Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns. However, with just five months before the 2024 election, Adelson is still not involved in Trump's presidential bid.
This isn't due to a lack of effort from Trump. In October 2021, the former president appeared at the Republican Jewish Coalition's Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas at The Venetian, where he mentioned Adelson.
"Miriam Adelson, a terrific woman," Trump said. "Miriam, thank you very much. We all like her. I like her a lot."
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Source: www.casino.org