OpenSecrets.org lists $20,252.250 in "Casinos/Gambling" donations, but with $19,780,250 coming from "Individuals" (read: Sheldon and Miriam Adelson), it exaggerates the industry’s degree of involvement. The latter’s longstanding tendency is to concentrate upon senatorial and congressional races, favoring incumbents and thereby currying favor on Capitol Hill.
"I actually haven't seen many corporate donations from casinos so far this year," reports a spokesman of Public Campaign, a nonprofit that is dedicated to overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which uncapped the amount of company money that can be poured into electoral contests.
Indeed, several casino CEOs are remaining studiously neutral, particularly MGM Resort International’s Jim Murren, who has supported GOP presidential candidates in previous election cycles. Of his boss, MGM shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, similar things could be said. A 2008 Barack Obama supporter, Isle of Capri Casinos CEO Virginia McDowell gave five grand to the American Gaming Association’s PAC (of which more below) and a thousand bucks to Shelley Berkley’s campaign to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), but otherwise is standing pat.
The only "george" donor we could find in the Obama camp was Avenue Capital CEO Marc Lasry (almost $36K to date, plus five grand in individual donations). Lasry is the lead owner of Trump Entertainment Resorts … whose employees include paid spokesman Donald Trump. The Trumpster recently made a fool of himself with a sham "presidential campaign" before ostentatiously endorsing Romney.
Actually, Trump had tipped his hand back in January, when he donated $2,500 to the Romney campaign. (However, Trump’s pattern of political generosity is scattershot and seemingly arbitrary.) He even got New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin to play along, giving a sham endorsement to the Los Angeles Times and comping Trump convention space for a campaign event that the mass media duly covered as though it were the real thing, not a publicity stunt for Celebrity Apprentice ratings.
Station Casinos co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta was an overt Romney supporter before funneling his donations through Fertitta Entertainment PAC, whose donor roll is an inventory of Station executives – although CFO Marc Falcone, Deutsche Bank’s overseer of Station finances – is conspicuously absent. (He donated to the Jon Hunstman campaign last year.) Station CEO Frank J. Fertitta III has been keeping his wallet shut in 2012, according to the Federal Election Commission’s database. Station rival Boyd Gaming also has a PAC whose donors include current CEO Keith Smith, but it's giving the presidential race a wide berth. (Boyd has leaned right in previous presidential races.)
The American Gaming Association, headed by former Reagan aide Frank J. Fahrenkopf, steers clear of presidential races, although it frequently donates to congressional and senatorial ones. The AGA doesn’t rock the boat – at least not directly – preferring to maintain the status quo. That might also be said of Ameristar Casinos, which keeps it money purse tightly clasped, in any event.
Tomorrow … the truly heavy donors: the moneybags behind the casino industry.
