Minnesota: Desperation and Politics

Gambling showdown in the cards
Casino and slot-machine proposals have gained traction for 2011.
By BRAD SCHRADE, Star Tribune


Citizens Against Gambling Expansion (CAGE), which includes GOP heavyweights Jack Meeks and state party chairman Tony Sutton, is organizing an opposition campaign with a new website and petition drive. It's also utilizing the Minnesota Republican Party's apparatus to keep anti-gambling pressure on lawmakers. Promoting a political platform that opposes more gambling, Meeks sent an e-mail to local GOP leaders last month urging them to "hold our elected leaders accountable."

"I think the threat is greater this year than it has been in the past just because of the unknowns, so many new members and [new] leadership," Meeks said in an interview last week. "If it's ever going to break, this is the year it's going to break.''

In a sign of how ugly the battle may become, Sutton on Friday accused pro-gambling forces of smearing him.

Randy Sampson, CEO of the Canterbury Park racetrack in Shakopee, told the Star Tribune that Sutton's wife, Bridget, approached him through a mutual friend late last year after the GOP swept into power in St. Paul. According to Sampson, Bridget Sutton wanted to know if Sampson would be interested in hiring her husband as a consultant to help in its quest to put slot machines at the track.

Sampson said the pitch came from businessman Bill Lethert, who Tony Sutton has described as a friend. The idea never went anywhere, Sampson said.

"I told [Lethert] I have some concerns," Sampson said. "The fact he's a Republican chairman -- I'm not sure how that would work. The fact that he'd been with CAGE, how would he be able to effectively represent us?"

Both Sutton and his wife denied pursuing work with Canterbury or asking Lethert to speak on their behalf.

"It's a baldfaced lie," Sutton said. "These guys are so desperate. This is about a lot of money for them. So they'll say whatever they've got to say."

Bridget Sutton, also a board member with CAGE, said she met with Lethert after the election. But she said Lethert brought up the idea of having a meeting with his pro-gaming friends. She said she reminded Lethert of her husband's long-standing opposition to the expansion of gambling.

"I said, 'But if you want to talk with him, it's up to you,''' she said, referring to her husband. "That's the last I heard of it."

Lethert declined to comment for this story.

'Some tough decisions'

Gambling has been a source of controversy in Minnesota politics for decades.

Ever since slot machines were outlawed in 1947, gambling interests have been clawing to get back in the game. After pull-tab charitable gambling was legalized in 1981, voters approved a lottery in 1988 and the state inked a gambling compact with seven tribes in 1989.

Today, there are 18 tribal casinos across Minnesota. They generate estimated revenues of at least $1.5 billion a year. But unlike some states, Minnesota's agreement with the tribes requires them to pay only a minimal regulatory fee. That has been a source of political controversy for nearly 20 years. Other states have generated hundreds of millions of dollars from gambling.

Tribal gaming interests are one of Minnesota's most formidable political blocs. They have spent millions of dollars in state races over the years, including about $1 million in 2010. The vast majority of that money has gone to the DFL, but tribal interests have also given money to groups with close ties to the GOP that have opposed the expansion of gambling, including CAGE and the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.