Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, who will run for governor next year, has said that expanded gambling will be part of his campaign.
Conway will take up the fight that current governor and fellow Democrat Steve Beshear has so far been unable to win. Beshear has been a staunch supporter of allowing casino games at the state’s storied racetracks and in stand-alone casinos, as the tracks struggle to compete with those in neighboring states that include casinos, but has failed every year of his two terms to get an expanded gaming measure through the state General Assembly.
Conway says he wants expanded gambling to raise revenue for essential state programs. “It’s a potential for new revenue,” he told the Associated Press after speaking to a group of local officials. “It’s something that I want to talk to the people of Kentucky about, and I think it ought to be on the ballot.”
State Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, a likely Republican opponent to Conway in next year’s gubernatorial race, told the AP that while he doesn’t plan to stump actively on the issue, he does favor putting expanded gambling before voters as a referendum to amend the state constitution. “It’s clear to me, traveling the state, the majority of people want to vote on it,” he said. “It’s an issue that’s haunted Republicans for the last two governor’s races.”
