Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley reportedly met with mega-donor and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson over the weekend as she looks to build on momentum in the GOP primary race. Adelson's late husband, Sheldon, developed Las Vegas Sands.
The meeting occurred in Las Vegas at a gathering of Republican Jewish donors, according to Reuters, which cited two sources briefed on the meeting. Adelson's status as one of the most prominent GOP donors and her meeting with Haley may be a positive sign for the former U.N. ambassador’s campaign.
However, the meeting may not pay immediate dividends for Haley as some media reports have indicated that Adelson intends to remain neutral during the GOP primary before likely backing the party’s nominee to challenge Democrat President Biden.
Haley’s campaign has been building momentum as one of the leading alternatives to former President Donald Trump in the wake of strong debate performances and a longtime pro-Israel stance that she has emphasized in the wake of Hamas’ terror attack on Israel that killed at least 1,400 people, including 35 Americans, last month.
Between July and September, Haley raised around $8.2 million from donors, a significant haul in what was her strongest fundraising quarter since her campaign began. Her third-quarter fundraising total trailed only former Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among GOP contenders.
Miriam and Sheldon, the latter who died in 2021, have been longtime donors to GOP campaigns. They gave more than $218 million to Republican candidates and conservative causes during the 2020 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending.
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The Adelsons were major supporters of the Trump campaign in 2016 and 2020. The Messenger reported that Miriam Adelson also had dinner with former Trump in Las Vegas over the weekend.
According to Thomson Reuters, Miriam Adelson is the second-largest shareholder in the Las Vegas Sands casino, owning 13% of outstanding shares in the company.
Forbes ranks Adelson and her family as the 40th-richest in the world with about $31.7 billion in wealth.
Adelson is an Israeli-American physician who has founded medical research clinics in the U.S. as part of her family's philanthropy.
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The Haley campaign and the Adelson Family Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The first votes are to be cast in the Republican nominating contest on Jan. 15 with the Iowa caucuses.
Reuters contributed to this report.
