Michael McDonald (Nevada)
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The information about this individual was current as of the 2016 Republican National Convention. Please contact us with any updates. |
| Michael McDonald | |
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| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Republican Party of Nevada |
| Role: | Chair |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
Michael J. McDonald is the chair of the Republican Party of Nevada. He is a former member of the Las Vegas City Council and previously served as a senior deputy in the office of Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz (R).
Career
Michael McDonald is a former police officer and prior member of the Las Vegas City Council. He was elected to the city council in 1995 and served for nearly ten years. During his time on the council, McDonald was implicated in ethics investigations, a tax fraud inquiry, and an FBI sting operation. McDonald lost re-election to the council in 2003, but was never charged with a crime.[1][2] He told the Las Vegas Sun:
| “ | I was accused of a lot of wrongdoing. I told (Sun columnist) Jon Ralston years ago, ‘I will be sitting here in this same spot and nothing will have ever happened to me. People will have been to jail and out of jail and back to their own lives and I will still be sitting here. I’ve done nothing wrong.’[3][4] | ” |
McDonald was elected chair of the Republican Party of Nevada (RPN) in April 2012. He was re-elected chair in September 2013, defeating Governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval's preferred candidate, Robert Uithoven. McDonald won re-election to a third term in November 2015. During his tenure as party chair, McDonald has emphasized the need to build unity within the party and increase grassroots outreach.[5][6]
McDonald accepted a position as a senior deputy in the office of Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz, a former RPN finance director, in July 2015. Media outlets, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, criticized the hiring of McDonald in light of his past ethics investigations and an ongoing legal dispute with a local nonprofit organization. Schwartz supported McDonald, stating, "We have looked into and are not concerned about the various issues referenced. The allegations appear false and reflect more the assumptions of their authors rather than any factual basis." McDonald resigned from the position in October 2015.[7][8]
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
| Michael McDonald | |
| Republican National Convention, 2016 | |
| Status: | RNC delegate |
| State: | Nevada |
| Bound to: | Unknown |
| Delegates to the RNC 2016 | |
| Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • Delegate rules by state • State election law and delegates • Delegates by state | |
McDonald was an RNC delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Nevada.[9] In the Nevada Republican caucuses on February 23, 2016, Donald Trump won 14 delegates, Marco Rubio won seven, Ted Cruz won six, and John Kasich won one. Two delegates were unbound. Ballotpedia was not able to identify which candidate McDonald was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention. If you have information on how Nevada’s Republican delegates were allocated, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.[10]
Delegate rules
Delegates from Nevada to the Republican National Convention were elected at the Nevada Republican Convention in May 2016. Delegates were bound on the first ballot unless the candidate to whom they were pledged suspended his campaign. However, a presidential candidate who withdrew from the presidential race could keep his delegates by submitting a request to the state party secretary stating that they remain bound on the first ballot.
Nevada caucus results
- See also: Presidential election in Nevada, 2016
| Nevada Republican Caucus, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Delegates | |
 Donald Trump |
45.9% | 34,531 | 14 | |
| Marco Rubio | 23.9% | 17,940 | 7 | |
| Ted Cruz | 21.4% | 16,079 | 6 | |
| Ben Carson | 4.8% | 3,619 | 0 | |
| John Kasich | 3.6% | 2,709 | 1 | |
| Rand Paul | 0.2% | 170 | 0 | |
| Jeb Bush | 0.1% | 64 | 0 | |
| Chris Christie | 0.1% | 50 | 0 | |
| Totals | 75,162 | 28 | ||
| Source: Nevada GOP | ||||
Delegate allocation
Nevada had 30 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 12 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's four congressional districts). Nevada's district-level delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; each candidate who won a percentage of the statewide caucus vote in Nevada was entitled to a share of the state's district delegates.[11][12]
Of the remaining 18 delegates, 15 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated on a proportional basis; each candidate who won a percentage of the statewide caucus vote in Nevada was entitled to a share of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.[11][12]
Noteworthy events
"G-Sting" investigation
Michael McDonald was identified as a player in what the media dubbed "G-Sting," a 2003 FBI sting operation that investigated bribery among local politicians and business owners, including Las Vegas strip club owners Rick Rizzolo and Mark Galardi. McDonald served on the Las Vegas City Council during the time of the investigation. According to The Boston Globe, McDonald and several Clark County commissioners were accused of accepting "unreported campaign contributions or cash payments" from the businessmen. McDonald claimed that he received the payments in exchange for consulting services and abstained from voting on municipal issues related to the business interests. McDonald was not found guilty of any wrongdoing during the investigation.[1][3][13]
Loan allegations
In 2013, McDonald served on the board of Miracle Flights for Kids, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit organization. He was also a partner in Med Lien Management, a medical lien company. Medical Flights for Kids provided Med Lien Management with a $2.2 million loan in May 2013. Med Lien Management defaulted on the loan and Miracle Flights for Kids filed a civil suit against McDonald and the medical company. McDonald has been the subject of allegations from media outlets, including the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that he used his leverage with both organizations to obtain the loan and that the medical company amounted to no more than a scam enterprise. The civil suit is ongoing as of April 2016.[7][14][15]
Media
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Boston Globe, "Corruption scandal is Vegas sensation," May 27, 2003
- ↑ Reno Gazette-Journal, "Ralston Reports: Ladies and gents, the face of the state GOP," October 7, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Las Vegas Sun, "As head of Nevada GOP, Michael McDonald has chance to help party, his reputation," March 1, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Las Vegas Sun, "Nevada Republican Party ignores Sandoval’s choice for party chairman; re-elects Michael McDonald," September 28, 2013
- ↑ Las Vegas Sun, "Nevada Republican Party re-elects McDonald as chairman," November 14, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Las Vegas Sun, "Nevada GOP chair resigning from deputy state treasurer post," October 7, 2015
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Editorial: McDonald's state juice job jabs taxpayers," September 19, 2015
- ↑ Nevada GOP, "National Delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention," May 15, 2016
- ↑ To build our list of the state and territorial delegations to the 2016 Republican National Convention, Ballotpedia relied primarily upon official lists provided by state and territorial Republican parties, email exchanges and phone interviews with state party officials, official lists provided by state governments, and, in some cases, unofficial lists compiled by local media outlets. When possible, we included what type of delegate the delegate is (at-large, district-level, or RNC) and which candidate they were bound by state and national party bylaws to support at the convention. For most delegations, Ballotpedia was able to track down all of this information. For delegations where we were not able to track down this information or were only able to track down partial lists, we included this note. If you have additional information on this state's delegation, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Republican National Committee, "2016 Presidential Nominating Process," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 CNN.com, "Republican National Convention roll call vote," accessed July 20, 2016
- ↑ Examiner.com, "Michael McDonald tied to ‘G-Sting’ elected Chairman of the Nevada GOP," April 23, 2012
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Michael McDonald's loan role looking more clear," August 24, 2015
- ↑ Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Editorial: McDonald cannot continue as state GOP chairman," September 5, 2015
