A year ago, the first entrants into the young gaming industry in Massachusetts banded together to fight a ballot question that would have made casinos and slots parlors illegal.
Wynn Resorts, Penn National Gaming, and MGM Resorts raised more than $14 million to crush an anti-casino movement that raised less than $1 million. The industry won easily, with voters deciding by a 60-40 tally to keep casinos around.
Now the companies are lining up for a different cause that could find itself in front of voters next year: to keep another entrant from joining the market.
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The new guy is a developer named Eugene McCain who, according to The Boston Globe
, lives in Thailand and has agreed to buy a trailer park near the Suffolk Downs horse track in Revere. Suffolk Downs sought last year to become the site of a resort casino, and McCain’s proposed law sets parameters that would make his site a fit for the second slots parlor.
Wynn, which is licensed to build a resort casino in Everett, doesn’t want to see that happen. Nor does MGM, which plans to open a resort casino in Springfield. McCain is also facing opposition from Penn National, which holds the state’s only slots parlor license and opened earlier this year in Plainville.
“We don’t think a trailer park owner from Thailand, who has no affiliation to racing, should get to change the rules in the middle of the game by trying to add a slots parlor at a racetrack,” Eric Schippers, a Penn National senior vice president, said in a statement.
“MGM was thoughtful and deliberative in its decision to enter the Massachusetts market,” added MGM spokesperson Carole Brennan. “It relied on the 2011 law that established the framework for a license and capped the number of gaming facilities. Any amendment to this carefully crafted law, which took into account the market forces in the northeast, or ballot measure would alter the gaming landscape across the state and negatively impact all licensees.”
Wynn declined to comment, but filed documents to the attorney general’s office last month when that office was determining whether the ballot question could legally advance. Attorney General Maura Healey decided it could, but not before Wynn’s lawyers argued otherwise. Penn National filed a similar memorandum.
Two other potential casino developers in Massachusetts declined to comment. They are the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which can build a casino without a license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, and Mass Gaming & Entertainment, which is vying to build a resort in Brockton.
Meanwhile, Suffolk Downs, which so strongly desired a casino a year ago, has distanced itself from McCain’s proposal, denying any connection to or support for the initiative.
“We have been clear that Suffolk Downs has nothing to do with this ballot question and that we will not support it,” said Suffolk Downs spokesperson Chip Tuttle. “I don’t foresee any circumstances under which that would change.”
None of the companies would say whether they would campaign against McCain if his question made it to the ballot. That’s a long way off, anyway. He would need to first collect nearly 65,000 voter signatures by early December in order to advance the question.
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has built the largest campaign operation of any potential candidate so far.
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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders self-identifies as a “democratic socialist.” His campaign raised more than $1.5 million in the first 24 hours.
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Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley spent seven years as Baltimore mayor before stepping up to the state level. He also plays guitar in a Celtic rock band.
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Lincoln Chafee was a one-time Republican senator and independent-turned-Democrat governor of Rhode Island. Now-rival O'Malley encouraged him to switch parties.
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Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb announced his bid on July 2.
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Ohio Governor and Republican John Kasich formally announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally in Columbus, Ohio, on July 21.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie declared his intention to run on June 30.
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Businessman Donald Trump joined declared presidential candidates on June 16, saying “I’m not using donors, I don’t really care. I’m really rich.”
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The 45th Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker announced his 2016 campaign on July 13.
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Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush formally announced his campaign during a kickoff rally in Miami, Florida on June 15. Jeb is the son of George H.W. Bush and the brother of George W. Bush.
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This is former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s second run. He said leaving his show at Fox News was “a pretty good indication” he’d try for the presidency again.
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Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, received the nation’s highest civilian award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2008.
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Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina emphasizes her business knowledge. “HP requires executive decision-making, and the presidency is all about executive decision-making,” she told CNN.
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Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants, and was previously the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul holds position’s outside his party’s mainstream—he’s pretty permissive on same-sex marriage, and passionate about civil liberties.
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Senator Ted Cruz is the first Cuban American to serve as a Texas senator. He appeals strongly to social conservatives.
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Former U.S. Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was the runner-up for the GOP nomination in 2012.
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Former New York governor George Pataki says on his campaign site that he’ll place “people over politics.”
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South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham launch his bid for president in the small South Carolina town where he grew up. He's never lost a race and told CBS he's running "because the world is falling apart."
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Former Texas Governor Rick Perry famously ran--and flubbed--in 2012. His wife said the debates this year could offer him a chance at redemption.
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Bobby Jindal the current governor of Louisiana is a Brown University graduate and a former Rhodes scholar. Jindal has spent much of his career in the healthcare field. Obamacare is on his list of issues he’d like to address if elected.
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Former Governor of Virginia, Jim Gilmore, has been out of office since 2002. He anounced his candidacy for the 2008 Presidential election in December 2006, but withdrew less than a year later after struggling to raise money.
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