Adelson Gives $30 Million To Help GOP Save The House

Image by Courtesy of This World
Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has given $30 million to the House GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, a large sum that top Republicans hope will boost the party’s electoral outlook in November, Politico reported on Thursday.
House Speaker Paul Ryan flew to Las Vegas to meet with the billionaire at his Venetian Hotel, according to two senior Republicans.
After speaking with Adelson, Ryan, who is not permitted to solicit seven-figure political donations as a federally elected official, left the room, leaving behind top Republican officials, including Norm Coleman, the former Minnesota senator who chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition; Corry Bliss, who oversees the super PAC; and Jake Kastan, Ryan’s No. 2 political aide. Coleman secured the contribution.
Coleman would not discuss his Adelson dealings with Politico, and CLF did not respond to Politico’s requests for comment. The contribution will become public later this month in the organization’s campaign finance filing.
The $30 million contribution is three times as much as Adelson gave to CLF in 2016. And it comes much earlier in the cycle: In 2016, Adelson gave CLF $10 million in August, as the campaign headed into the homestretch.
Party officials have been paying Adelson their respects all year. In February, a number of House Republicans made their annual sojourn to Las Vegas to attend the annual retreat hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition, an organization that Adelson helps to fund. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addressed the conference, and Ryan spoke by teleconference to a meeting of the group’s board.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at [email protected] or on Twitter, @alyssalfisher
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
- 4
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward 72% of American Jews disapprove of Donald Trump’s performance so far, poll finds
-
Culture Einstein or Edison? Jordan or LeBron? A rabbi explains why Jews debate who is greatest
-
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on U.S. soil. I think I know why no one objected
-
Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.