Gambling Industry Fueling Next Year's Election Season

In the past year, parimutuel and casino companies have contributed over a million dollars to state legislators and Republican political action committees as the gambling industry gears up for a combative legislative session in 2012. The stakes are high. State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff and Rep. Erik Fresen have drafted two...

By Francisco Alvarado

December 30, 2011

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In the past year, parimutuel and casino companies have contributed over a million dollars to state legislators and Republican political action committees as the gambling industry gears up for a combative legislative session in 2012. The stakes are high. State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff and Rep. Erik Fresen have drafted two bills that would regulate existing parimutuel gambling centers and allow Miami-Dade and Broward voters an opportunity to approve mega-casino resorts, but cuts out the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Banana Republican spent the past two days analyzing campaign finance reports for every state legislator running for reelection and several political action committees to determine just how much the Seminoles and their competitors, including but not limited to, Malaysian-based Genting, which wants to build a casino resort on the site of the Miami Herald, and Magic City Casino, the former Flagler Dog Track that won voter approval to have slot machines and card games at its parimutuel facility.

We broke down who's giving to whom and how much with graphs:

Mardi Gras Casino in Hallandale Beach raised $86,000 for the GOP and a slew of state representatives and senators.

You can view a breakdown of all the contributions given to each political action committee and state legislator that received in the spreadsheet below:Gambling Political Contributions

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Francisco Alvarado was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Miami, giving him unique insight into the Magic City and all its dark corners. An investigative reporter with a knack for uncovering corruption, Alvarado made his bones as a staff writer at Miami New Times and remains in dogged pursuit of the next juicy story.

Contact: Francisco Alvarado

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Twitter: @thefrankness