Private jets may be touching down in Las Vegas today in greater numbers than usual as the first GOP primary of the 2016 presidential election season commences: the Sheldon Primary.

Formally, it’s a conference put on by the Republican Jewish Coalition — a politically active nonprofit which appears to be largely sponsored by Las Vegas Sands casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. As a 501(c)(4) group, it doesn’t have to disclose its donors.

Adelson is one of the largest individual donors to political causes on record; he and his wife Miriam contributed $92.7 million to super PACs for the 2012 election, mostly in support of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

But the Adelsons, along with Sheldon’s daughter, Shelley Adelson, and Miriam’s daughter, Yasmin Lukatz, have also been making a lot of contributions to candidates and party committees.

And judging by their giving habits, the Adelsons are not looking to shake up Washington. The family’s contributions indicate they are staunchly establishment.

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In the 2012 cycle, the Adelsons poured money into the super PAC backing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich — about $16 million in all. Eventually, though, they went all in for the GOP establishment candidate, Mitt Romney, giving $30 million to the super PAC supporting him. They also sent $5 million to the YG Action Network , an organization linked to House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.). And, besides all the super PAC donations, the Adelson family also sent $15,000 to Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and $7,500 to McConnell.

In a video posted online promoting this weekend’s event, which, according to the invitation, is open only to donors who give more than $1,000, shots of Boehner and Cantor are superimposed with terms like “great friendships” and “like-minded leader” — and are followed immediately by a photo of Adelson commanding the podium at an earlier RJC event.

On paper, Adelson doesn’t dominate the RJC. He’s not the chairman of the group, just one of 67 members of the board of directors — although the only one who owns the Venetian casino where this weekend’s event is being held. It’s also unclear if he’s the dominant donor to the group. According to the RJC’s 990 tax filing, it raised $9.3 million in 2012. Political nonprofits don’t have to publicly disclose their donors’ names on the forms, but they do have to release a redacted list showing how many contributions were received and in what amounts. The 990 shows the group took in at least 127 major contributions — including a single donation of $5.1 million, more than half its income, from one person. Still, there are several other major conservative donors on the RJC’s board of directors who could have provided that sum.

Beginning the parade of GOP presidential hopefuls at the RJC weekend, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will headline an exclusive event scheduled to take place Thursday night in an airplane hanger that houses Adelson’s fleet of jets. Three other Republican governors with presidential hopes will appear over the course of the weekend — Chris Christie, Scott Walker and John Kasich.

Update: According to Doug Stafford, executive director of the Reinventing A New Direction PAC (RAND PAC), the Kentucky senator was invited to the RJC weekend, but could not attend because of a family commitment.

Follow Russ on Twitter: @russchoma

Images: Sheldon Adelson at a press conference in Macau, China in 2012 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)



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