Republicans on Sunday worked to distance themselves from Steve Wynn in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report of former employees describing a decadeslong pattern of sexual misconduct by the casino mogul and GOP financial bigwig.

The allegations against one of Las Vegas’s most powerful figures reverberated in the political world over the weekend, as Mr. Wynn stepped down from his post as Republican National Committee finance chairman. He had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to GOP candidates and political committees, and a number of Republican officials said they would redirect his contributions to charities.

“If the allegations have merit, then we should return the money,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said Sunday on ABC. Federal Election Commission records don’t show that Mr. Graham received any contributions from Mr. Wynn, or the political-action committee affiliated with his company, Wynn Resorts Ltd.

A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said Sunday that he would donate the $1,000 he received from a PAC affiliated with Wynn Resorts to a charity.

Rep. Karen Handel (R., Ga.) over the weekend gave Mr. Wynn’s contribution to a charity in her district that helps victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse, according to her spokesman. Mr. Wynn and his wife, Andrea, each donated $2,700 to Mrs. Handel last year. The congresswoman’s spokesman didn’t specify the size of her charitable donation.