Corporate establishment

The corporate / Republican-aligned dark-money architecture in NV politics. Mirror of /dark-money/ — same pass-through pattern (donor → c3/c4/527 hub → state recipient → operational expenditure), different funders, hubs, and operational orgs. The progressive ecosystem is heavily out-of-state-funded; the corporate ecosystem is uniquely NV-internally-funded in part — Las Vegas-based gaming, hospitality, and resort interests are themselves the donors, flowing money directly into state politics without needing national pass-throughs.

Pass-through hubs: 8

Out-of-state funders

NV-headquartered corporate donors

National advocacy orgs

Federal pass-throughs to NV

NV recipient orgs

Verified in our data

Partial reconciliation

Missing (research leads)

Why this page exists (and what makes it different from /dark-money/)

The progressive-establishment ecosystem documented at /dark-money/ is heavily a national-funder-to-pass-through-to-NV-recipient flow: California foundations, DC c4s, NY trusts. The corporate ecosystem documented here works the same way for national R-side flows (Koch network, Donors Trust, RSLC) — but it has a second leg unique to NV: large NV-resident corporate donors (Sands / Wynn / Boyd / MGM / NV Energy / mining) fund NV politics directly from inside the state, without needing pass-throughs. Their giving shows up in cf_contributors directly; their advocacy is via in-state industry associations (Resort Association, Mining Association, Vegas Chamber). That second leg is where both R and D candidates get NV-internal corporate support; bipartisan cooperation with the gaming and mining industries is structural.

This page documents the architecture as it operates. Same legal structure as the progressive ecosystem; different funders. Each side serves its constituency under tax-exempt rules that obscure original-donor identity at the public-records layer. The aggregation of public-knowledge research into one place is the contribution.

Roster from `Reports/corporate-establishment-research.md`, sourced from widely-published research orgs (OpenSecrets, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, SourceWatch, InfluenceWatch). Reconciliation status is from cross-reference against our cf_contributors, cf_groups, lobbyist-client roster, and IRS 990 snapshot. Missing-status entries are research leads; many are federal-only filers (FEC) absent from our state-level datasets.

How the corporate / R-side chain works

Corporate donor (Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, MGM, Koch family, Mercer family, Adelson family) gives to a 501(c)(3) DAF (Donors Trust, Donors Capital Fund) or directly to a 501(c)(4) (Stand Together, AFP, AAN, One Nation). Tax deduction or legal-expenditure treatment depending on entity type.
Pass-through grants forward to a 501(c)(4) or 527 (RSLC, RGA, SLF, CLF, AAN). The donor list is non-public on Schedule B; the recipient's filing shows only the pass-through's name.
NV state recipient (NPRI, Better Nevada, STRONGER NV PAC, NV Resort Association, NV Mining Association, NV Voter ID Coalition) receives the grant or makes in-kind contributions.
NV in-state corporate flow (parallel): Sands / Wynn / MGM / Boyd / NV Energy / mining contribute directly via cf_contributors to candidate committees and industry-aligned PACs. No pass-through needed — they're NV residents.
Operational expenditure: PAC ad spend, lobbying through registered in-state lobbyists, ballot-initiative campaigns, judicial advocacy. Reports show NV recipient as source. Original-donor identity is buried at varying depths.

The bipartisan signal here is the in-state corporate flow — both R and D candidates accept gaming-industry, resort-industry, mining-industry, and utility contributions in NV. That cross-party participation is what the site's framing means by "the establishment": a captured ecosystem that operates regardless of which party wins.

R-side / corporate cross-state coordinating PACs

National-network parent organizations operate in NV via state-named subsidiary PACs. 4 committee(s) across 4 parent org(s) have disbursed $17,429,234 in NV since 2019. The Republican Governors Association alone has put $13.2M through its NV PAC, more than any other single national-network committee on either side.

Republican Governors Association

1 NV cf_groups committee(s)

$13,223,404

disbursed in NV (2019+)

RGA Nevada PAC Washin $13,223,404 · 36 payments

Republican State Leadership Committee

1 NV cf_groups committee(s)

$2,003,754

disbursed in NV (2019+)

Republican State Leadership Committee - Nevada Washin $2,003,754 · 52 payments

American Leadership Committee

1 NV cf_groups committee(s)

$1,844,930

disbursed in NV (2019+)

American Leadership Committee - Nevada Washin $1,844,930 · 48 payments

National Rifle Association

1 NV cf_groups committee(s)

$357,147

disbursed in NV (2019+)

NRA Political Victory Fund Fairfa $357,147 · 23 payments

NV-headquartered corporate donors (9 entities)

Unique to NV: large gaming, resort, utility, and mining corporations headquartered in Nevada that fund state politics directly from inside the state — no national pass-through needed. These are the recurring contributors that all NV legislators (R and D) depend on. They appear by name (or via PAC affiliates) in cf_contributors.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation

○ partial Indirect · NV · Public corporation

Adelson-legacy gaming company; major political-giving entity

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 89 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Wynn Resorts

○ partial Indirect · NV · Public corporation

Wynn-legacy resort/gaming

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 32 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Boyd Gaming

○ partial Indirect · NV · Public corporation

Regional NV gaming operator

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 93 NV lobbyist clients: 1

MGM Resorts International

✓ verified Direct · NV · Public corporation

Largest NV resort operator by employees

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 225 NV cf_groups: 1 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Caesars Entertainment

○ partial Indirect · NV · Public corporation

Major resort/gaming

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 66

Red Rock Resorts

○ partial Indirect · NV · Public corporation

Fertitta-family Station Casinos parent

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 1 NV cf_groups: 1

NV Energy

○ partial Indirect · NV · Regulated utility (Berkshire Hathaway)

NV regulated-monopoly utility

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 154 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Newmont Corporation

○ partial Indirect · NV operations / CO HQ · Mining

Major NV gold-mining operator

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 77

Barrick Gold

○ partial Indirect · NV operations / Toronto HQ · Mining

Major NV gold-mining operator (Nevada Gold Mines JV)

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 115

Pass-through hubs (8 entities)

Conservative donor-advised funds and 501(c)(4) advocacy hubs. Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund aggregate giving from many conservative donors and grant out under their own name — the original donor is invisible on the recipient's filings.

Donors Trust

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(3) DAF

Conservative donor-advised fund — donor identities aggregated

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 522166327 · 501(c)(3) · $158,252,948 revenue (tax period 202312).

Donors Capital Fund

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(3) DAF

Sister DAF to Donors Trust

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 541934032 · 501(c)(3) · $695,814 revenue (tax period 202312).

The 85 Fund

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

Federalist-Society-aligned advocacy (formerly Judicial Education Project)

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 202466871 · 501(c)(3) · $143,050,000 revenue (tax period 202312).

Concord Fund

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(4)

Conservative judicial advocacy (formerly Judicial Crisis Network)

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 1 IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 202303252 · 501(c)(4) · N/A revenue (tax period ).

One Nation

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

McConnell-aligned dark-money c4

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 271937961 · 501(c)(4) · $66,828,024 revenue (tax period 202312).

American Action Network

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

House-R-aligned c4

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 270730508 · 501(c)(4) · $46,157,056 revenue (tax period 202306).

Stand for America

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

Nikki-Haley-aligned advocacy

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 1 IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 833203087 · 501(c)(4) · $7,045,945 revenue (tax period 202212).

Americans for Prosperity Foundation

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(3)

Koch-network policy + research arm

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 521527294 · 501(c)(3) · $2,808,517 revenue (tax period 202312).

Out-of-state funders (10 entities)

National foundations and family-wealth donors that contribute to NV-bound flows via pass-throughs or directly to NV-based orgs. Koch network and Bradley/Scaife/Mercer trusts are the recurring names.

Charles Koch Foundation

○ partial Indirect · KS · 501(c)(3)

Koch-network policy grants

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 480918408 · 501(c)(3) · $1,315,532 revenue (tax period 202312).

Stand Together

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(4)

Koch-network advocacy umbrella

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 463508366 · 501(c)(3) · $58,664,952 revenue (tax period 202312).

Charles Koch Institute

⨯ missing Inference · VA · 501(c)(3)

Koch-network c3

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Mercer Family Foundation

⨯ missing Inference · NY · Private foundation

Robert + Rebekah Mercer giving

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Bradley Foundation

○ partial Indirect · WI · 501(c)(3)

Conservative grantmaker (Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation)

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 396037928 · 501(c)(3) · $30,987,418 revenue (tax period 202312).

Scaife Foundations

⨯ missing Inference · PA · Family foundations

Long-running conservative grantmaker family

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Searle Freedom Trust

○ partial Indirect · IL · Private foundation

Pharmaceutical-heir grantmaker

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 367244615 · 501(c)(3) · $-220,157 revenue (tax period 202312).

DeVos Family Foundations

⨯ missing Inference · MI · Private foundations

Multiple DeVos-family grantmaking entities

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Walton Family Foundation

○ partial Indirect · AR · Private foundation

Walton-family grantmaker (school-choice / education focus)

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 133441466 · 501(c)(3) · $872,237,914 revenue (tax period 202312).

Castle Rock Foundation

⨯ missing Inference · CO · Private foundation

Coors-family grantmaker

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Federal pass-throughs to NV (5 entities)

Federal-level 527s and super-PACs that direct money into NV state and federal races. RSLC, RGA, SLF, CLF, and CVA are the main R-side conduits.

Republican State Leadership Committee

○ partial Indirect · DC · 527

Funds R state legislative candidates incl. NV

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 12 NV cf_groups: 1

Republican Governors Association

○ partial Indirect · DC · 527

Funds R gubernatorial candidates incl. NV

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 11

Senate Leadership Fund

⨯ missing Inference · DC · Super-PAC

McConnell-affiliated; backs R Senate candidates

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Congressional Leadership Fund

⨯ missing Inference · DC · Super-PAC

House-R; backs R House candidates incl. NV CDs

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Concerned Veterans for America

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(4)

Koch-network veterans-aligned advocacy

Cross-reference: NV lobbyist clients: 1

National advocacy / issue groups (10 entities)

501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) advocates whose NV chapters or grants form part of the R-side flow. AFP-NV is the most-active in-state chapter; Federalist Society maintains UNLV/UNR student chapters; ALEC participation by NV legislators is the model-legislation pattern.

Americans for Prosperity

✓ verified Direct · VA · 501(c)(4)

Koch-network advocacy arm; AFP-NV chapter active

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 5 NV cf_groups: 1 NV lobbyist clients: 1 IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 753148958 · 501(c)(4) · $186,359,205 revenue (tax period 202312).

Heritage Action for America

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

Heritage Foundation advocacy arm

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 272244700 · 501(c)(4) · $12,699,259 revenue (tax period 202312).

Federalist Society

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(3)

Conservative legal network; UNLV/UNR student chapters

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 3

American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

⨯ missing Inference · VA · 501(c)(3)

Model-legislation network; NV-legislator participation undocumented in our data

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Goldwater Institute

○ partial Indirect · AZ · 501(c)(3)

State-level constitutional litigation; active in NV school-choice cases

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 860597661 · 501(c)(3) · $31,686,371 revenue (tax period 202312).

Convention of States Action

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4)

Article V constitutional-convention advocacy

Cross-reference: NV lobbyist clients: 1 IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 472245708 · 501(c)(4) social welfare · N/A revenue (tax period ).

Club for Growth

○ partial Indirect · DC · 501(c)(4) + super-PAC

Tax/fiscal advocacy; national PAC reaching NV races

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 204681603 · 501(c)(4) · $12,309,763 revenue (tax period 202306).

National Right to Work Foundation

⨯ missing Inference · VA · 501(c)(3)

Labor-policy advocacy; active in NV labor disputes

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

State Policy Network

○ partial Indirect · VA · 501(c)(3)

Conservative state-think-tank network; NPRI is the NV affiliate

Cross-reference: IRS 990: 1

IRS Form 990: EIN 570952531 · 501(c)(3) · $27,111,882 revenue (tax period 202312).

Tea Party Patriots

⨯ missing Inference · GA · 501(c)(4)

Grassroots conservative network

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

NV recipient orgs / PACs (10 entities)

NV-based 501(c)(3) / 501(c)(4) / 501(c)(6) industry associations and PACs that operationalize R-side and corporate political activity. NPRI is the in-state free-market think tank. Cameron Phillips operates the Better Nevada / STRONGER NV / Nevada Way / Healthy Nevada PAC family ($95.6M disbursed since 2019; see Top PAC operators).

Nevada Policy Research Institute

○ partial Indirect · NV · 501(c)(3)

Free-market state-policy research; NV affiliate of State Policy Network

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 6 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Keystone Corporation of Nevada

⨯ missing Inference · NV · Industry

Business-association advocacy

Cross-reference: No matches in our datasets

Nevada Mining Association

✓ verified Direct · NV · 501(c)(6)

Mining-industry advocacy; net-proceeds-tax opposition

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 127 NV cf_groups: 1 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Nevada Resort Association

✓ verified Direct · NV · 501(c)(6)

Casino-industry advocacy

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 10 NV cf_groups: 2 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Vegas Chamber of Commerce

○ partial Indirect · NV · 501(c)(6)

Las Vegas business advocacy

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 134

Better Nevada

✓ verified Direct · NV · PAC + 501(c)(4) family

Cameron Phillips operator network; multiple committees

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 27 NV cf_groups: 4 NV lobbyist clients: 1

Nevada Voter ID Coalition

○ partial Indirect · NV · PAC Ballot Advocacy

R-aligned ballot-initiative org

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 1 NV cf_groups: 1

STRONGER NEVADA PAC

○ partial Indirect · NV · PAC

Cameron Phillips operator; major R-aligned super-PAC

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 30 NV cf_groups: 1

Nevada Way PAC

○ partial Indirect · NV · PAC

Cameron Phillips operator

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 10 NV cf_groups: 1

Healthy Nevada PAC

○ partial Indirect · NV · PAC

Cameron Phillips operator

Cross-reference: NV cf_contributors: 7 NV cf_groups: 1

Methodology & provenance

Source roster: Reports/corporate-establishment-research.md — Berry-curated from widely-published public research (OpenSecrets, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, SourceWatch, InfluenceWatch, IRS 990 series, FEC committee filings). The roster is not exhaustive; it captures the most-active and most-documented entities.
Reconciliation: Each entity is searched (substring, case-insensitive) across our datasets: cf_contributors, cf_groups, lobbyist-client list, and IRS 990 snapshot. Verified = 3+ datasets; partial = 1-2; missing = none.
NV cf_* limitation: NV cf_contributors only captures donations to NV state candidates and NV-registered committees. Federal-side activity (FEC filings) is the major gap; many R-side conduits are federal-only. Federal candidate-committee data import is task #160.
Verification policy: This page is a research index, not a published claim. Each row reproduces a search across public records. Inconsistencies should be reported via the tip line.