Rough Night: Sheldon Adelson spent over $20 million backing candidates in the 2012, most of whom lost on November 6. Image by getty images

By Josh Nathan-Kazis November 8, 2012

It’s been a tough night for Jewish political mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino magnate who was the biggest political donor of the election cycle.

Adelson and his wife had backed Mitt Romney with $20 million in donations to the pro-Romney super PAC. But his spending on failed Republican candidates went well beyond the top of the ticket.

Four additional Adelson-backed candidates lost their races tonight. In Virginia, Tim Kaine won the governorship over George Allen, whose super PAC had received $1.5 million from Adelson. In Florida, Bill Nelson won the Senate seat over Connie Mack, who Adelson had backed with $1 million. And in New Jersey, Adelson-backed Orthodox Jewish Republican Shmuley Boteach lost to Democratic incumbent Congressman Bill Pascrell.

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In Florida’s 18th Congressional District, Adelson-backed Republican Allen West narrowly trailed Democrat Patrick Murphy, who was declared the winner by news organizations.

A bright spot for Adelson came late in the night, when his friend-turned-nemesis Shelley Berkley narrowly lost a Senate race in his home state of Nevada.

Earlier in the cycle, Adelson-backed Republican presidential primary candidate Newt Gingrich lost out to Romney. David Dewhurst, an Adelson-backed candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, lost in the Republican primary in that state.

Of course, Adelson also spent an unknown – but presumably large – sum backing the Republican Jewish Coalition, which has worked to generally shift Jews away from the Democrats. Exit polls suggest they made have had some success there.

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