The strident social conservatism preached by Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, would seem to mark him as no friend of the gaming industry, but that’s not entirely accurate.
Trump himself, of course, has owned casinos, while Pence’s tenure as governor of Indiana indicates he has been willing at times to compromise with the interests of the state’s 11 riverboat casinos and two racetracks.
A case in point occurred last year when state lawmakers were considering a bill to allow casinos to move their operations onto land.
It also would have allowed the racetracks to add live table games to their existing complement of electronic tables and slot machines.
Pence had signaled opposition to the live dealer provision, but he allowed the bill to become law without his signature after it was rewritten to defer the live games until 2021 when Pence would no longer be in office, even if he was re-elected.
Pence has also benefited indirectly from casino company campaign contributions despite a state law intended to restrict them.
Casino companies and their owners are prohibited from contributing directly to state campaigns in Indiana. The law is intended to prevent influence peddling in the highly regulated industry.
But Centaur Gaming, the Indianapolis company that owns both racetrack casinos, has contributed more than $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association since Pence’s first run for governor in 2012. The RGA, in turn, has contributed more than $3 million to Pence’s gubernatorial campaign.
John Keeler, general counsel for Centaur, had said the contributions were not an attempt to skirt the state’s restrictions. He said the company has widespread interests that extend beyond Indiana.
“The states are laboratories of democracy,” he said. “A lot of good things come from the states. We feel like we’re over-regulated and over-taxed, and we want to be an advocate for reasonable, conservative principles of conservative government.”
He also pointed out that Pence vetoed legislation in 2015 that would have allowed online horse betting.
The governor did, however, sign a bill in March that made Indiana the second state to legalize daily fantasy sports. He did so after lawmakers amended the measure to limit the games to professional sports—a move supported by the NCAA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis.
