Las Vegas Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has yet to endorse a candidate. | AP Photo GOP campaigns tell RNC not to let Adelson stack the debate crowd

Top campaign officials on Monday pressed the Republican National Committee on whether Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson would receive an extra block of tickets for next month’s GOP debate at his Venetian hotel — and potentially stack the crowd for his favored candidate.

Adelson, one of the most prolific Republican donors in the country, has yet to endorse a contender, though it is widely believed he will eventually get behind Marco Rubio and direct millions of dollars his way. On Dec. 15, his posh hotel will play host to the next Republican debate, which will be broadcast on CNN.


On a private afternoon conference call with GOP campaigns to discuss planning for the debate, which was hosted by RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Rand Paul, kicked off the discussion by stating, “I have concerns about our friends in Vegas being given an extra block of tickets that could be used for crowd stacking.”

LaCivita, without specifically mentioning Adelson, then asked for assurances from the RNC that that would not happen.

Walsh, according to two participants on the call, responded by saying that the committee was sensitive to those concerns and would stay in touch with the campaigns about the matter. (An RNC spokeswoman, Allison Moore, said in an email: “As has always been the case in every prior debate the venue [host] gets an allotment of tickets.”)

The debate venue, RNC officials made clear on the call, would be small; the committee has yet to determine how many tickets will be available.

Another adviser to a presidential candidate then asked specifically about Adelson, pressing the RNC if he was an “actual host of the debate,” or if campaigns were “just using his venue.”

No, he wasn’t a host, Walsh responded. But she acknowledged Adelson owns the venue where the debate is being held.

An aide to Donald Trump, George Gigicos, then asked if Adelson would get to pick how many tickets each campaign has.

No, Walsh said.

Andy Abboud, an Adelson spokesman, pushed back on the idea the mogul would try to pack the seats. “That is the last thing we would do,” he wrote in an email. “We want all campaigns to feel welcome and comfortable. Nobody has a thing to worry about.”

On the call, RNC officials also said that no format criteria had been set for the December debate. At one point, Walsh said the committee was aggressively pushing the network to articulate its plans for how the debate will be run — and encouraged campaigns on the call to reach out to network representatives themselves.