AUSTIN — Before the Texas Legislature met in 2023, billionaire Miriam Adelson, whose family owns the Las Vegas Sands casino, dealt $3.3 million to politicians and political committees in her push to legalize gambling and allow destination casino resorts in Texas.

Pro-gaming bills gained little traction last year in the Legislature, but Adelson is going even bigger heading into the 2025 session, spreading around $13.7 million in political donations in the first 10 months of 2024.

The donations mainly went to two political action committees that distributed the money to lawmakers, candidates and other political committees across Texas.

More than $8.2 million ended up with Republicans, including 14 six-figure donations to House Republicans and significant contributions to legislative leaders — $200,000 to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, and $1.02 million to House Speaker Dade Phelan, who barely survived a primary challenge in May.

Phelan, a Republican from Beaumont, also got $50,000 directly from Adelson — the only elected official to receive a direct contribution from her.

Spokespeople for Phelan and Patrick did not respond to one email seeking comment on the donations.

Phelan and Abbott have expressed support for bringing destination casino resorts to Texas.

Democrats received $948,500 of Adelson’s money.

The 2025 legislative session, which begins Jan. 14, is the first since Adelson’s family bought a majority stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban, the previous majority owner, wanted to partner with Las Vegas Sands to build a new arena in the middle of a resort casino.

Expanding gambling remains an uphill battle in Texas.

Patrick said he told Las Vegas Sands that there isn’t enough support among Senate Republicans to pass a pro-casino bill.

“You don’t pass major legislation in a red, conservative state with the Democrats controlling the show, particularly on a major bill like that,” Patrick told WFAA on Nov. 7. “They’ve come in and spent millions and millions of dollars and they just think that magically it happens. It doesn’t.”

In addition, the Texas Republican Party’s 2024 platform opposes expanding gambling and calls for lawmakers to reject contributions from pro-gambling groups or lobbyists.

Still, Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government relations for Las Vegas Sands, said the effort to bring destination casinos to Texas has received an “overwhelming amount of support from Texans and lawmakers since it was first introduced, and the groundswell of momentum is only continuing to build.”

“Texans want to decide and vote on this issue, and we look forward to working with the Legislature to give them that opportunity this session,” Abboud said in a statement.

The Dallas Morning News tabulated Adelson’s donations by reviewing campaign filings from the Texas Ethics Commission. Adelson gave $4.1 million to Texas Sands PAC, the main political action committee for the casino empire, and $9.05 million to Texas Defense PAC, a new political action committee that donated to Republican incumbents in the Texas House.

Adelson’s donation was Texas Defense PAC’s only source of funding, and it came several weeks before the May 28 Republican primary runoff. The group spent a little over $6.2 million and had $2.3 million on hand, according to an Oct. 28 filing.

Expanding gambling in Texas requires amending the state constitution, which bans “gift enterprises.” Amendments require approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate, then approval by a majority of voters in a statewide election.

The gaming industry made incremental gains in the 2023 session by getting two pro-gambling bills to the House floor for a vote:

• A proposal backed by Las Vegas Sands would have allowed eight resort-style casinos. The proposed amendment was supported by 92 representatives, short of the 100 votes needed to pass.
• A bill to legalize mobile sports betting passed the House with 100 votes but died in the Senate, which took no action on the legislation.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said it’s smart for Las Vegas Sands to get a foot in the door — financially — with lawmakers because comprehensive bills like gaming typically need several sessions to pass.

While money can move the needle in the Legislature, Rottinghaus said, the issue “has to be resonant with the politics in the state at the moment.”

A significant amount of money may not be enough, Rottinghaus said, given Patrick’s stated skepticism.