Nevada GOP complaint says Cannizzaro broke fundraising laws

The Nevada Republican Party filed a complaint Tuesday with the Nevada secretary of state’s office against state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, claiming she and other Democratic state Senate candidates misused political action committees to get around campaign donation limits.

The complaint asks for an investigation into donations made by two political action committees, Battle Born and Raised Leadership and Majority 2020, which both list Cannizzaro as either an agent or president on state documents. The money went to Cannizzaro herself, Kristee Watson, running in Senate District 18 against Republican Scott Hammond, and former Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Roberta Lange, who won a hotly contested three-candidate Senate race in the primary.

Republicans claim Watson and Lange received the maximum allowed donation of $10,000 from Battle Born and Raised Leadership. The PAC then donated an additional $7,500 to another PAC — Brunch in Nevada — which distributed $5,000 to Lange and $1,000 to Watson.

According to state election records, Battle Born gave Watson and Lange each $10,000 in December. It then donated $5,000 to Brunch in Nevada in March and another $2,500 in May.

Brunch in Nevada was registered by state Sen. Chris Brooks, D-Las Vegas, in February. Its only listed contributions came from Battle Born, and its only donations to political campaigns were $5,000 to Lange in April and June and $1,000 to Watson in June.

The complaint further claims that Cannizzaro used Majority 2020, which lists Cannizzaro as its president, to accept donations to her re-election campaign from Brooks and state Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, both of whom had already given Cannizzaro the maximum amount allowed.

According to records, Woodhouse and Brooks each gave Majority 2020 $5,000 in March. These were the only donations received by the PAC. Majority 2020 then donated $5,000 to Cannizzaro and $5,000 to Lange in June and April, respectively.

Brooks and Woodhouse had already given the maximum $10,000 amount to Cannizzaro through several donations made since 2017.

State law states a person shall not: “make a contribution to a committee for political action with the knowledge and intent that the committee for political action will contribute that money to a specific candidate which, in combination with the total contributions already made by the person for the same election, would violate the limitations on contributions set forth in this chapter.”

In a news release, the state GOP said 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid, son of former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, was fined $25,000 for similar violations.

An attempt to reach state Senate Democratic Caucus Executive Director Cheryl Bruce, who is also listed as the agent of Majority 2020, was not successful.

Contact Rory Appleton at rappleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.