Las Vegas liquor wholesaler Ruvo spreads his political contributions across the spectrum, from Teddy Kennedy and Bob Kerrey to John McCain and Bush. Back home in Nevada, a meeting of the Nevada Senate Legislative Affairs Committee was cancelled in ’99 for lack of a quorum. It seems there was a scheduling conflict—with the gala opening of the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Casino. Casino lobbyist Harvey Whittemore arranged for two wealthy political donors to send corporate jets to taxi seven legislators to the event: one jet for Democrats and another for Republicans—furnished by Ruvo. This jet-set mini scandal sparked an ethics debate over whether or not the expenses of this excursion were reportable. Critics said lobbyists were using intermediaries like Ruvo to avoid having to report lobby expenses. Ruvo was a partner with Whittemore in a golf course development at Lake Tahoe. A month after Ruvo gave the legislators an airplane lift, the Senate Judiciary Committee—whose chair rode on Ruvo’s plane—moved a bill to help Whittemore build a controversial private pier at Tahoe.