Kentucky Slot Proponents Vow Election Revenge on Gambling Foes
Kentucky lawmakers denied a measure to place slots at state horse tracks this week, despite desperate pleas by the racing industry and the governor that expanded gambling is necessary to save the state's "signature industry." Now, the spurned supporters of introducing slot machines are saying they will target opponents in the next general election, looking to replace them with legislators more amenable to the cause.
"Elections do matter, and who we have representing us in Frankfort does matter," Patrick Neely, executive director of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The state Senators who helped prevent Governor Steve Beshear's proposal from advancing beyond a budget committee hearing are worried enough about the threat to already start pleading with the horse industry to remember the times they sided with racing. Obviously worried that public anger at their decision will be easy to inflame, some Senators were eager to quote policies they supported to racing's benefit.
Ernie Harris, a Senator whose district includes a large portion of horse country, said, "Those of us in political office always know that we will be held accountable for our votes."
But Harris reminded racing insiders that he had asked Beshear to find funding in the budget to increase breeding incentives by the state. He didn't comment on where such money might be found, with the state already facing a gaping budget deficit and now without gambling revenue to address the shortage.
Beshear, in his turn, urged Senators to conform or be banished.
"We've either got to change some of the state senators' minds or we've got to change some of the state's senators," he said.
In the meantime, both sides expect a well-funded lobbying campaign will shine a harsh light on the lawmakers who helped defeat the slots proposal.
