Cali Cardrooms Spent $3M Attacking Lawmakers Who Supported Playing Invoice — AFTER it Handed!
In a unprecedented show of political vengeance, California cardrooms spent greater than $3 million this 12 months punishing lawmakers who supported a invoice permitting their rivals, the state’s tribal casinos, to sue them for providing unlawful card video games. Senate Invoice 549, also called the Tribal Nations Entry to Justice Act, was signed into regulation by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in September.
The Gardens On line casino, a cardroom in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif., spent a reported $9.1M lobbying towards SB 549 earlier than its passage in September, and is believed to have contributed to the $3 million spent by cardrooms to punish legislators who supported it. (Picture: Wikipedia)
Three of the 4 legislators focused by the cardrooms misplaced their reelection bids despite the fact that two have been vacating their Meeting seats and operating for nonlegislative positions that not often cope with cardroom points.
What’s SB 549?
SB 549, which turns into regulation on January 1, permits tribes to ask judges to legally problem whether or not cardrooms are allowed to function blackjack, pai gow poker, and different desk video games. The tribes declare that California voters gave them unique rights to host these video games. However, till the brand new regulation, they’ve been unable to sue cardrooms as a result of tribes are sovereign governments.
California is house to 84 licensed cardrooms the place variations of common on line casino video games are modified to stick to the state’s ban on business house-banked desk video games. The video games take a rake from every hand whereas permitting gamers to play within the seller place, identical to in an everyday poker money recreation.
The cardrooms additionally rent third-party corporations, which have to be state-licensed, to “shill” within the seller spot as a result of common gamers don’t at all times need to act because the seller. The tribes argue that these corporations are the de facto “financial institution.”
Cardrooms insist that their video games are authorized, however fear the price of court docket battles may bankrupt them. Cardroom advocacy group the California Gaming Affiliation estimates that the invoice may price the trade round 32K jobs.
The brand new regulation may have even wider implications as a result of metropolis governments, a few of whom obtain practically half their budgets from taxes on cardrooms, additionally fear that the measure may pressure price range cuts for police, firefighters, and different important companies.
The Targets
When Sen. Josh Newman misplaced his bid for reelection in November, it was the primary time since 1980 {that a} Republican flipped a Democratic senate seat in a presidential election. (Picture: newmanforsenate.com)
The focused lawmakers included Fullerton Democratic Sen. Josh Newman, the invoice’s lead writer, who misplaced to Republican challenger Steven Choi by 6,075 votes of 458,615 solid. Cardrooms spent $900K on adverts and mailers portraying Newman as tolerant towards crime and advantages for unlawful immigrants, in response to CalMatters.
Cardrooms spent $500K on adverts attacking outgoing Assemblymember Evan Low (D) of Cupertino. Low, who had a cardroom in his district, misplaced the race for California’s sixteenth Congressional District to fellow Democrat Sam Liccardo.
And cardrooms spent $443K going after termed-out Assemblymember Brian Maienschein (D), who misplaced his bid for San Diego metropolis legal professional to fellow Democrat Heather Ferbert.
Just one candidate, Laurie Davies, survived the cardrooms’ vengeance. Regardless of the whopping $1.3 million they spent attempting to align the Republican from Oceanside with “anti-choice radicals,” “MAGA extremists” and “Massive Oil,” she gained reelection towards Democrat Chris Duncan.
However solely by 3,870 votes out of 230,546 solid.
Cardrooms Can Play the Similar Recreation
Tribes have lengthy outspent cardrooms in state politics, donating greater than $23.5 million to candidates previously 10 years — many occasions what cardrooms spent. Certainly, Newsom himself obtained greater than $7.1 million in donations from California tribes since he first ran for governor in 2017, whereas cardrooms gave solely $252,400 to his committees throughout the identical interval.
Cardrooms clearly supposed this spending spree to ship a message to lawmakers, and it’s extremely unlikely that message shall be ignored.
Any time you’ve gotten a gaggle primarily asserting to the world that they will do vengeance spending, it does trigger lawmakers to concentrate,” former Democratic Assemblymember Mike Gatto advised CalMatters.
Nevertheless, Newman advised CalMatters that he sees no logic within the cardrooms spending cash on races after shedding a legislative struggle.
“The query actually is: When you shut the barn door after the horse is out, who’re you actually punishing?” he mentioned.
