With an uber-toxic political environment gripping the local elections along with a mutiny within the two major parties, the Indian & Pakistani community is trying to pick winners in an ongoing battle for the political supremacy by donating copious amounts to their favored candidates.

Early voting is already in progress and with an expected low voter turnout, it is almost an impossible task to guess who all will be our next elected political leaders in the corridors of power – from Carson City to Washington DC.

The detailed analysis of political donations from the Las Vegas Indian Pakistani community shows many of the donors are donating across the party lines while many of them have never donated to the political campaigns in the past.  Some of the donors have never voted in the past elections and are still not registered to vote in Clark County.

The leading donor in 2018 is Dr. Raj Chanderraj’s Nevada Heart and Vascular and groups Physicians who have collectively donated a copious amount to the front-runners for the County Commission.  Newly appointed County Commissioner James Gibson received over $22,000 while County Commission Candidate Tick Segerblom, in a bitter fight with a union-backed candidate, received over $25,500 from Dr. Chanderraj’s group.

For the five-month period ending May 22, 2018, the local community donated close to $160,000 to 11 candidates.  Dr. & Mrs. Nagy topped the list of donors totaling $25,950 to five front-runners.

Irrespective of the donors’ party affiliation, most of the political donations from the members of the Indian sub-continent went to Democrats with Steve Sisolak, a candidate for NV Governor, raking up more than $29,500 during the period beginning January 2018 through May 22, 2018.  This is in addition to over $85,000 donated to Steve Sisolak in 2017.  It appears that the community is betting on Steve Sisolak, Democrat, to be our next Governor.

Followed by Steve Sisolak is Tick Segerblom, a candidate for the County Commissioner who received over $25,500. Dr. & Mrs. M. Nagy donated $10,000 to Steve Sisolaks’ campaign, followed by $5,000 each from Attorney Farhan Naqvi and Paul Padda Law.  All the donations for Segerblom’s campaign came from Dr. Raj Chanderraj’s Nevada Heart & Vascular, LLP and its Physicians.  Republican front-runner for NV State Governor, Adam Laxalt received less than $7,000 in political donations. Steve Sisolak’s primary opponent Chris Giunchigliani received over $5,500, a small amount compared to the donations to Steve Sisolak.  However, more individuals donated to Chris Giunchigliani, albeit the small amount.

Wes Duncan

Adam Laxalt

Republican Wesley Duncan for Attorney General received $9,450 while his opponent Democrat Aaron Ford racked up $15,650 from Indian Pakistani donors.  The front-runner candidate for Clark County Sheriff, Joe Lombardo raised over $20,000, all from the local Pakistani American community.  In a race for the Nevada Supreme Court justice, the sitting Judge Linda Stiglich received $5,000 each from three law firms/lawyers – Naqvi, Aziz, and Padda.

There are other small political donations made to other lessor known candidates by South Asian community members which are not listed below.  The two Indian American candidates Asheesh Dewan for Governor and T Rao Coca for the University Board of Regents did not report any donation to their respective campaigns.

Here’s the complete donor list for prominent races…

Prior articles on political donations by the local Indian sub-continent community along with a complete list of donors for 2018 election cycle…

http://www.vegasdesi.com/2018/04/24/las-vegas-pakistani-physicians-in-the-forefront-of-political-donations/

http://www.vegasdesi.com/2018/01/17/nv-state-governor-race-heating-up-community-donates-heavily-to-democrat-candidate/

http://www.vegasdesi.com/2017/12/20/south-asian-community-donates-copious-amount-to-alleged-sexual-predator-congressman-ruben-kihuen/