{"id":4731,"date":"2009-07-14T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T17:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/07\/activist-disappointed-in-denishs-support-for-gambling\/"},"modified":"2009-07-14T11:15:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T17:15:00","slug":"activist-disappointed-in-denishs-support-for-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/07\/activist-disappointed-in-denishs-support-for-gambling\/","title":{"rendered":"Activist disappointed in Denish’s support for gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe gaming industry has proven to be an important part of our state\u2019s economy,\u201d Denish staffer says in explaining her 2005 votes<\/span><\/p>\n

The head of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling<\/a> said it\u2019s \u201cdisappointing\u201d that, after previously expressing concern about the effects of gambling in New Mexico, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a> has voted to expand the hours of operations at racinos and accepted tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the industry.<\/p>\n

But Guy Clark said whether Denish allows the gambling industry to influence her decisions as much as Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> isn\u2019t yet clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be a little less inclined to say she was pay to play than Gov. Richardson, but she\u2019s not living up to her previous statements that would indicate a more enlightened response to predatory gambling,\u201d Clark said. \u201cBut I think we should give her a little more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark, who is also chairman of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation\u2019s<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

In a TV ad airing this week<\/a>, 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

The GOP is on the attack because Denish is the Democratic Party\u2019s likely 2010 gubernatorial nominee.<\/p>\n

Supporting horseracing and \u2018job creation statewide\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Rosen said. \u201cLt. 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\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 2005 votes were in favor of legislation<\/a> that increased the hours that racinos\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Richardson later signed the bill into law.<\/p>\n

Although the GOP is lumping contributions from all casino interests into its attack on Denish, it\u2019s worth noting that Indian tribes opposed the legislation Denish voted for, saying it was an expansion of non-tribal gambling.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Denish said during the years that Republican Gary Johnson<\/a> 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\u2019s economy and that she had other concerns about the societal ills they created.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s had some positive effects for the Native Americans, but I think it\u2019s had a negative impact on the economy as a whole,\u201d Denish, who was then chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, was quoted by The Santa Fe New Mexican as saying in 2000.<\/p>\n

Big money<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In all, Denish accepted $83,500 from racino and Indian gambling interest during the 2006 election cycle, according to FollowTheMoney.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother pay to play jackpot,\u201d The narrator of the GOP\u2019s ad states. \u201cNo matter how Diane Denish spins it, isn\u2019t it still the same game?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018On the same track as Gov. Richardson?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Rosen said Denish has \u201cled the fight to improve transparency and ethics in New Mexico\u201d and said, \u201cover the course of her 30-year career as a businesswoman, party chair and lieutenant governor, no one has ever questioned Diane Denish\u2019s ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of New Mexico will not be duped by these baseless, shameful attacks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Clark remains skeptical. He said he has a question for Denish: \u201cIs 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?\u201d<\/p>\n

If Denish won\u2019t announce that she\u2019s not a friend to the industry and its plans for expansion, Clark said, \u201cThen I think we\u2019ll have to conclude she\u2019s on the same track as Gov. Richardson.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe gaming industry has proven to be an important part of our state\u2019s economy,\u201d Denish staffer says in explaining her 2005 votes The head of the New Mexico Coalition Against Gambling said it\u2019s \u201cdisappointing\u201d that, after previously expressing concern about the effects of gambling in New Mexico, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has voted to expand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}