Nation & World

LAS VEGAS — Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino executive keeping Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes alive, has relayed assurances to Mitt Romney that he will provide even more generous support to his candidacy if he becomes the Republican nominee, several associates said in interviews here.

The signals from Adelson, whose politics are shaped in large part by his support for Israel, reflect what the associates said was his deep investment in defeating President Obama and willingness to play a more prominent role in the Republican Party and conservative causes.

The assurances have been conveyed in response to a highly delicate campaign by Romney and his top Jewish financial supporters to dissuade Adelson from adding to the $10 million that he and his wife have given to a pro-Gingrich group, Winning Our Future, that has been tearing into Romney through television advertising.

Several people who have spoken with Adelson over the past two weeks said he would likely continue to help the group as long as Gingrich remained in the race. But, they said, he is concerned that more deep-pocketed donors have not joined him.

And, they said, his affection for and loyalty to Gingrich, who met with him here on Friday, have not blinded him to the reality that the nominating contest is tilting in Romney's favor.

"Sheldon is committed to keeping him in the race as long as he wants to stay in," said Fred Zeidman, a top fundraiser for Romney and a longtime friend of Adelson's. "But any time that Newt decides to get out of the race, he would devote his energy and money to the overriding issue, which is beating Barack Obama."

Underscoring Adelson's devotion to that larger cause, he was among the conservative political financiers on hand for the semiannual gathering of the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch last weekend near Palm Springs, Calif., where the Kochs and their like-minded colleagues discussed their efforts to ensure Obama's defeat.

Adelson, who has long been a key behind-the-scenes financier to Republican candidates, is said to be comfortable with a more visible role in the 2012 election. His decision to back the pro-Gingrich group has significantly raised his profile, but friends say he does not want his aid to Gingrich to be interpreted as anti-Romney.

The group, a super PAC, has mostly run vitriolic television commercials questioning Romney's character.

"He saw a friend who needed and wanted help," said an associate who talks to Adelson regularly, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting him. "I don't think it's likely that he's going to fund Newt's death march to Tampa," the site of the Republican National Convention, "but if there is a realistic perception that he can help make his candidacy viable, he will."

Adelson declined to be interviewed.

His role is especially pronounced in Las Vegas, where his opulent and highly successful casinos dot the busy skyline.

His connection with Gingrich goes back years, built on a shared passion for protecting Israel. But associates of Adelson said that he was concerned about the Obama agenda more broadly and that his support for Gingrich's candidacy was rooted in a belief that Gingrich's lofty ideas and forceful approach were right for the challenging times.

Gingrich, whose campaign coffers are severely depleted, is being advised by his inner circle to spend the weeks leading up to Super Tuesday on March 6 resting up, getting Romney's attacks out of his head and recalibrating his campaign message to highlight his positive ideas.

But his aides acknowledge that Adelson's support will be critical to his ability to seriously challenge Romney, who appeared to be in a strong position for several state contests this month.

Fully cognizant that Adelson is an important factor in determining when Romney can turn his focus away from Gingrich and more fully to Obama, Romney and his top financial advisers have been pursuing a careful strategy of outreach to Adelson.

The effort included a telephone conversation, initiated by Romney, about two weeks ago, according to three people who were briefed about it and who would discuss it only on condition of anonymity. They described it as cordial, with Adelson even sharing some advice about his campaign message.

It was the first time the two men had spoken to each other in about four months. Romney's campaign had no formal comment, though a senior aide said they shared a "mutual respect for each other."

There are significant links between the Romney campaign and Adelson, particularly through several top-level donors who raise money for Romney and sit with Adelson on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition, created in 1985 as a way to foster closer ties between the American Jewish community and Republican leaders.

A friend of Romney's, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Romney did not begrudge Adelson's initial $5 million donation to the pro-Gingrich group, given Adelson's known loyalty. But Romney was said to have been deeply stung by a second $5 million donation, from Adelson's wife, Miriam.

And the group's harsh attacks against Romney were said to have upset Romney's wife, Ann, though his aides said she was inured to them.

Yet for all of the tension, people close to Adelson predicted that all would be forgotten if Romney was the nominee, given that, in the words of one close associate, "He will do whatever it takes to beat Obama in the fall."