“The gaming industry has proven to be an important part of our state’s economy,” Denish staffer says in explaining her 2005 votes
The head of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling said it’s “disappointing” that, after previously expressing concern about the effects of gambling in New Mexico, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has voted to expand the hours of operations at racinos and accepted tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the industry.
But Guy Clark said whether Denish allows the gambling industry to influence her decisions as much as Gov. Bill Richardson isn’t yet clear.
“I would be a little less inclined to say she was pay to play than Gov. Richardson, but she’s not living up to her previous statements that would indicate a more enlightened response to predatory gambling,” Clark said. “But I think we should give her a little more time.”
Clark, who is also chairman of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation’s board, said the influence of the gambling industry on Richardson was obvious in the makeup of the transition team he formed as he prepared to take office in 2003 and in actions he has taken since. The industry has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Richardson.
In a TV ad airing this week, the state GOP is trying to tie Denish to those contributions made to Richardson while the two were running on the same ticket, and to the pay-to-play scandals that are plaguing the governor. The GOP claims pay to play is behind two tie-breaking votes Denish cast in the Senate in 2005 in favor of a racino-backed bill.
The GOP is on the attack because Denish is the Democratic Party’s likely 2010 gubernatorial nominee.
Supporting horseracing and ‘job creation statewide’
After originally saying on Monday that Denish would be available for a phone interview, her chief of staff, Joshua Rosen, instead released a prepared statement this morning in response to questions about the contributions and the 2005 votes.
“The lieutenant governor cast her tie-breaking vote in order to support the horseracing business that is so important to her home town of Hobbs and to job creation statewide,” Rosen said. “Lt. Governor Denish understands that her top priority is always to create jobs, and the gaming industry has proven to be an important part of our state’s economy.”
Racinos are racetracks combined with casinos, but unlike Indian casinos, in New Mexico racinos are only allowed to have slot machines, not table games. Denish’s 2005 votes were in favor of legislation that increased the hours that racinos’ gambling operations could stay open from 12 hours a day to 18. The bill also imposed a slight increase in the state tax on profits of racino slot-machine revenues.
Richardson later signed the bill into law.
Although the GOP is lumping contributions from all casino interests into its attack on Denish, it’s worth noting that Indian tribes opposed the legislation Denish voted for, saying it was an expansion of non-tribal gambling.
Regardless, Denish said during the years that Republican Gary Johnson was governor and brought Indian gambling to the state — Johnson took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Indian gambling interests during that time — that casinos had a negative impact on the state’s economy and that she had other concerns about the societal ills they created.
“I think it’s had some positive effects for the Native Americans, but I think it’s had a negative impact on the economy as a whole,” Denish, who was then chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, was quoted by The Santa Fe New Mexican as saying in 2000.
Big money
During his first campaign for governor in 2002, Richardson took hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Indian and racino gambling interests. That included, after the primary while he and Denish were running together, $50,000 apiece from the Downs at Albuquerque and Riviera Gaming Management.
Then, four months before she cast the tie-breaking votes in the Senate, Denish received a contribution of $5,000 from Paul Blanchard, owner of the Downs at Albuquerque. In the few months following the votes, Denish received almost $20,000 in contributions from racinos and people tied to them, including $10,500 from Ruidoso Downs and $5,000 from Zia Park Racetrack and Casino.
And in 2006, she accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the industry, including $10,000 apiece from Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino owner Stan Fulton and Ruidoso Downs President Bruce Rimbo.
In all, Denish accepted $83,500 from racino and Indian gambling interest during the 2006 election cycle, according to FollowTheMoney.org.
“Another pay to play jackpot,” The narrator of the GOP’s ad states. “No matter how Diane Denish spins it, isn’t it still the same game?”
‘On the same track as Gov. Richardson?’
Rosen said Denish has “led the fight to improve transparency and ethics in New Mexico” and said, “over the course of her 30-year career as a businesswoman, party chair and lieutenant governor, no one has ever questioned Diane Denish’s ethics.”
“The people of New Mexico will not be duped by these baseless, shameful attacks,” he said.
Clark remains skeptical. He said he has a question for Denish: “Is she a friend of gambling expansion? Do the contributions that she has received through the gambling industry mean that she is going to make it easier to avoid regulation and expand?”
If Denish won’t announce that she’s not a friend to the industry and its plans for expansion, Clark said, “Then I think we’ll have to conclude she’s on the same track as Gov. Richardson.”