Aptyp_koK /ShutterstockCasino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, dropped more than $57 million on super-PACs in this election, becoming America’s most famous conservative megadonors (besides the Kochs). So what did they get in return for their investment? A look at the groups they funded and the races they tried to influence shows that overall, their return on investment was about 40 percent: Only two out of every five races these super-PACs spent on had the outcome the outside spending group desired. The two biggest Adelson-backed losers were Republican presidental hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, to whose super-PACs the couple gave a total of $40 million. In the congressional races that Adelon-backed super-PACs spent on, the results were decidedly mixed. (A few of those races remain undecided.)
Here’s the full tally of those races so far:
| Adelson donation | Super-PAC | Candidate supported/opposed by super-PAC | Outcome | ROI |
| $20 million | Winning Our Future | Pro-Newt Gingrich (R, president) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $20 million | Restore Our Future | Pro-Mitt Romney (R, president) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $5 million | Congressional Leadership Fund | Anti-Betty Sue Sutton (D, House, Ohio) | She lost | Good bet |
| Anti-Pete Gallego (D, House, Tx) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Kathleen Hochul (D, House, New York) | She lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Brad Schneider (D, House, Illinois) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Patrick Kreitlow (D, House, Wisconsin) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Shelley Adler (D, House, New Jersey) | She lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Lois Capps (D, House, California) | She won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Leonard Boswell (D, House, Iowa) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-John Barrow (D, House, Georgia) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Val Demings (D, House, Florida) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Krysten Sinema (D, House, Arizona) | Undecided | |||
| Anti-Mike McIntyre (D, House, North Carolina) | Undecided | |||
| Anti-Gary McDowell (D, House, Michigan) | Undecided | |||
| $5 million | YG Action Fund | Anti-Larry Kissell (D, House, North Carolina) | He lost | Good bet |
| Anti-John Tierney (D, House, Massachusetts) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-William Enyart (D, House, Illinois) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Mark Critz (D, House, Pennsylvania) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Scott Kreadle (R, House, North Carolina) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Lois Frankel (D, House, Florida) | She won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-John Barrow (D, House, Georgia) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-Richard Hudson (R, House, North Carolina) | He won | Good bet | ||
| Pro-Adam Kinzinger (R, House, Illinois) | He won | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Mike McIntyre (D, House, North Carolina) | Undecided | |||
| Pro-Allen West (R, House, Florida) | Undecided | |||
| $2 million | Freedom PAC | Pro-Connie Mack (R, Senate, Florida) | He lost | Bad bet |
| Anti-Patrick Murphy (D, House, Florida) | Undecided | |||
| $1.5 million | Independence Virginia PAC | Pro-George Allen (R, Senate, Virginia) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $1 million | Ending Spending Action Fund | Anti-Barack Obama (D, president) | He won | Bad bet |
| Pro-Mitt Romney (R, president) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-Deb Fischer (R, Senate, Nebraska) | She won | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Bob Kerrey (D, Senate, Nebraska) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Pro-Josh Mandel (R, Senate, Ohio) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Sherrod Brown (D, Senate, Ohio) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Richard Carmona (D, Senate, Arizona) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Pro-Jeff Flake (R, Senate, Arizona) | He won | Good bet | ||
| Pro-Ted Cruz (R, Senate, Texas) | He won | Good bet | ||
| Anti-Tim Kaine (D, Senate, Virginia) | He won | Bad bet | ||
| Anti-Jon Burning (R, Senate, Nebraska) | He lost | Good bet | ||
| Pro-Connie Mack (R, Senate, Florida) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-George Allen (R, Senate, Virginia) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-Richard Mourdock (R, Senate, Indiana) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-Tommy Thompson (R, Senate, Wisconsin) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| Pro-Dean Heller (R, Senate, Nevada) | He won | Good bet | ||
| $1 million | Patriot Prosperity PAC | Pro-Shmuley Boteach (R, House, New Jersey) | He lost | Bad bet |
| Pro-Joe Kyrillos (R, Senate, New Jersey) | He lost | Bad bet | ||
| $1 million | Treasure Coast Jobs Coalition | Pro-Allen West (R, House, Florida) | Undecided | |
| $250,000 | Conservative Renewal | Pro-David Dewhurst (R, Senate, Texas) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $250,000 | Texas Conservatives Fund | Pro-David Dewhurst (R, Senate, Texas) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $190,000 | Hispanic Leadership Fund | Pro-Mitt Romney (R, president) | He lost | Bad bet |
| $57.7 million spent total | 42% good bets, 58% bad bets |
Sources: Center for Public Integrity, Center for Responsive Politics, Sunlight Foundation
This article has been updated.
