Thursday, December 19, 2002 - Bangor Daily News
Casino PACs spend
nearly $500,000
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUGUSTA - Three political action committees that are lobbying for and against proposals to legalize casinos and slot machines in Maine have spent nearly $500,000 for their efforts.
Two separate efforts are under way to collect signatures to allow residents to vote next fall on whether to allow a casino in Maine, and whether to allow slot machines at the state's two harness racing tracks.
According to records filed with the state Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, the PAC called Think About It spent $315,342 between January and Dec. 10. Think About It is leading a drive to legalize casino gambling to allow the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation to build a $650 million casino and resort in southern Maine.
A PAC called Best Bet for Maine spent $128,023 on a ballot question proposed by the owners of the Bangor Raceway. The proposal would allow slot machines at the raceway and the state's other harness racing track, Scarborough Downs.
Casinos No!, a PAC that opposes casino gambling, raised $44,482 between January and Dec. 10. The group formed in response to the tribes' proposal for a casino, but also considers slot machines at racetracks a form of casino gambling.
Christian Potholm, a professor of government at Bowdoin College and a Republican pollster, said supporters and opponents of an assisted-suicide referendum question in 2000 had spent more money by this point in their campaigns.
Still, the money being spent on the gambling issues is significant, he said.
"This [gambling] is a hot topic. It's going to get a lot of money on all sides," he said.
Think About It and Best Bet for Maine each must give the state just over 50,000 petition signatures from registered voters by Jan. 23 to get their questions on the November 2003 ballot.
Best Bet for Maine formed in November and raised $128,923 by Dec. 10. Capitol One LLC, the Las Vegas investor in Bangor Raceway, was the sole donor.
Most of the money was used to pay a California company to conduct a petition drive. Pierce Atwood Consulting of Portland received about $21,000 in consulting fees, and $7,558 was spent on campaign office operations at Bangor Raceway.
Three committees under the Think About It umbrella raised a total of $315,342 on casino-related proposals from January through Dec. 10, most of which was spent on local ballot questions in Biddeford and Sanford.
Marnell Corrao Associates, a Las Vegas casino developer, and Thomas Tureen, attorney for the tribes, were the primary campaign donors to all three groups.
Casinos No! had raised $44,482 as of Dec. 10, and had $5,551 left in its account.
Dennis Bailey, a spokesman for Casinos No!, said the group won casino referendum campaigns in Biddeford and other York County towns without holding the financial advantage.
"They may have the money, but they don't have the message," Bailey said. "The facts are on our side. Our challenge is going to be to get those facts out above all that Las Vegas money."