A new analysis shows that 9 of the top 19 candidates running in Nevada‘s federal elections were connected to companies that together received more than $10.1 million in loans from the federal government between 2007 and 2021.
The majority of the loans came from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a U.S. Small Business Administration initiative launched to keep businesses operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these loans were forgiven by the federal government.
The analysis found that eight candidates, all Republicans, received PPP loans for their businesses, as well as Rep. Susie Lee’s (D-NV) then-husband, whose casino company received two government-backed loans.
While these candidates have not directly criticized the PPP loan program during the election campaign, many have criticized or promised to curb excessive federal spending, lines of attack that have drawn accusations of hypocrisy from national Democrats.
“I was trying to provide students with $10,000 to $20,000 in aid,” President Joe Biden said at a news conference after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his forgiveness plan last June. “The average amount forgiven in the PPP program was $70,000.”
The Nevada Independent reached out to all of the campaigns mentioned in this story to confirm the findings, better understand how the loans were used and ask whether the loans run counter to calls to reduce government spending.
Federal guidance on PPP loans stipulated that they could be forgiven if the funds were used for eligible expenses, such as payroll costs, interest on commercial mortgages or rent. As of October 2, 2022, more than 10.5 million PPP loans worth more than $793 billion have been forgiven nationwide, some of which included loan interest.
In Nevada, business entities (including The Nevada Independent) received more than $6.8 billion in PPP loans, of which the federal government forgave about $6.3 billion. The loans are credited with keeping workers employed and contributing to a “historic economic recovery.” U.S. Treasury Department economists estimated that the program could have saved up to 19 million jobs, although some economists have argued that it was not as helpful as other forms of aid.
For this analysis, The Nevada Independent and Sunlight Search searched all businesses registered in the name of a candidate or legislator or their spouse and matched the business names to the publicly available list of businesses that received a PPP loan. The search included members of Nevada’s federal delegation running in the 2024 election, as well as top candidates looking to run against them in the November general election.
Among the candidates in the US Senate race in Nevada, former US ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter received more than $500,000 in PPP loans for a California-based dermatology clinic. A spokesperson for Gunter’s campaign did not say how the money was used and that “President Trump’s brilliant PPP program focused on revitalizing the economy and protecting American workers.”
Garn Mabey, a former assemblyman who ran for Senate, received a PPP loan of nearly $50,000 for his medical practice and a $6,000 economic injury disaster loan. Mabey said in an email that the PPP loan was used to pay employees, who were unable to work for several weeks because the medical practice could not see patients.
Palisade Strategies, a medication delivery company for veterans founded by race favorite Sam Brown, received a PPP loan worth more than $20,000. A spokesperson for Brown’s campaign said he repaid the loan in full and that his company “provided essential services to veterans who needed emergency medications that were not available through the VA.”
In Congressional District 1, Republican candidate and Las Vegas restaurateur Flemming Larsen received $2.5 million in loans, about 56 percent of which were PPP loans. Larsen’s companies have also received loans for small businesses that cannot obtain the necessary credit in the private market but have demonstrated the ability to repay the loans, as well as other disaster assistance loans resulting from the pandemic.
In an interview, Larsen called the PPP program “essential” and said it helped him continue paying his restaurant employees during the height of the pandemic, noting that if he didn’t accept the loans and had to lay off his employees, “The federal government would have paid them anyway, so you had to pay them through me or pay through unemployment.”
“I think the PPP was essential,” he said. “I think it was great. I think the government had to do it if they wanted to shut everyone down.”
The other Congressional District 1 candidate to receive a loan was Mark Robertson, who received a $25,000 PPP loan for his accounting business. He said in an email that the loan was used for employee salaries and authorized operating expenses.
Wealthy video game composer Marty O’Donnell, who is running for Congressional District 3, received more than $1 million in PPP loans for a company he founded, Highwire Games , a $25,000 disaster assistance loan for O’Donnell /Salvatori Inc., a company he founded with his co-author of the Halo video game franchise, and $1,000 in an economic injury disaster loan.
A spokesperson for O’Donnell’s campaign said, “We took advantage of the PPP loan program established by the federal government so we would not have to lay off employees and close our business permanently.”
“Yes, the federal government spends too much money, but this program created because of a once-in-a-generation pandemic is not the reason,” the spokesperson said. “The problem is budgets that are inflated every year and politicians who lack the moral courage to fight against government excesses.”
In 2020, Lee (D-NV) faced criticism when it emerged that the casino company run by her then-husband received PPP loans after she and three members of Nevada’s congressional delegation repeatedly pushed for the Small Business Association Open loans to small businesses. gambling businesses.
In a statement to The Nevada Independent, Lee’s campaign said she was not involved in any aspect of the decision-making about the loans and had “no influence over the decision to apply for PPP loan forgiveness or whether that application It was approved or not.”
Lee did not learn of the company’s intention to apply until days after eligibility for the loan was expanded, the statement added.
Disclosure: The Nevada Independent received a PPP loan of approximately $207,000 in 2020 for payroll expenses that was forgiven.
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