In 2016 Election, Sheldon Adelson Cares About Israel — and Pot

Sheldon Adelson. Image by Getty Images

By Daniel J. Solomon November 7, 2016

Sheldon Adelson, the Republican super-donor and casino billionaire, hasn’t been as generous with Donald Trump as he once promised to be, giving the party standard-bearer a mere $5 million. But new campaign finance disclosures from Nevada show that he hasn’t pulled back in one area — trying to stop recreational pot from becoming legal in his state.

The Adelson-owned Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Sunday that he gave another $1.35 million to Protecting Nevada’s Children, the political action committee opposing recreational pot. He previously gave the effort $2 million, and the vast majority of funds for the campaign have come from Adelson.

Nevadans will be voting in November on Question 2, a ballot referendum that would legalize marijuana for recreational purposes for people over 21 years old.

Adelson and allies indicate they have personal reasons for fighting legalization. A spokesman for Adelson and his wife Miriam told NBC in 2014 that the two opposed recreational pot because one of their children died of a drug overdose and because Miriam, as an internist, had seen the ravages of drug addiction.

“It is a personal passion of theirs,” Andy Abboud told the network. “Pro marijuana folks have awoken a sleeping giant in Sheldon and Miriam Adelson.”

Adelson has not been shy about promoting his interests and ideas through politics. He was part of a consortium that in October convinced the state legislature to finance the construction of a football stadium to support a business deal in which he was a major stakeholder.

He has also been a leading advocate of a nationwide ban on Internet gambling, which could threaten the profits of his casinos.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]]or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO