Contact: Bob Hall
Speaker Jim Black
and Michael Decker Top List of Legislators; Decker
Buys Car With His Money, Others Return Donations
Despite on-going
state and federal investigators, political donations tied to the video-poker
industry continue to pour into North Carolina campaigns – more than $200,000 in
the last election – and continue to highlight legal and ethical issues tugging
at NC House Speaker Jim Black.
That total doesn’t include the $109,000 two operators loaned their own failed
campaigns for the General Assembly. One loser, distributor C.R. “Bucky” Jernigan, confessed to widespread illegal gambling
soon after announcing his candidacy and the sheriff destroyed 275 of his
machines.
As the industry becomes more controversial – and more of its big donors are
arrested or put out of business – some politicians are refusing video-poker
money. In the past year, 11 legislators returned donations from the industry’s
political action committee, the NC Amusement Machine Association PAC. “They
view video-poker money as radioactive,” said Bob Hall, research director of the
nonpartisan watchdog group Democracy North Carolina. “It carries more risks than
benefits.”
Others continue to take the money, even though the NC Sheriff’s Association has
lobbied to ban the games and the current US Attorney has put two of the
industry’s major political donors [Garland Garrett and Ricky Goodwin] in prison
for running illegal gambling operations.
Leading the list of legislative recipients for 2003-2004 are Democratic House
Speaker Jim Black and – less predictable – Michael Decker, the Republican who
temporarily switched party affiliations and helped Black maintain power despite
the GOP’s 61-59 advantage in January 2003.
Black is viewed as the industry’s grand protector, because he has thwarted
several attempts by the state Senate to ban the gaming machines, which by state
law are limited to offering coupons worth $10 in merchandise. Law enforcement
officials say most are rigged to pay cash prizes.
Black received $8,000 from the industry PAC (the maximum allowed) and $38,750
from other industry-related donors for a total of $46,750. That’s a drop from
his record take of $108,000 from video-poker donors (not counting lobbyists) in
the 2002 election.
Hall noted the absence in the 2004 cycle of many donors who his group suspects
are linked to illegal donations – and who are the target of a State Board of
Elections probe. “Bobby Huckabee and his agents don’t
appear on Black’s latest list, or on anybody else’s. He’s gone from a donor of
$26,000 in the 2000 election, to heading up his trade group’s political
committee, to zero visibility.”
But other aspects of the video-poker money raise new questions, Hall said. For
example:
• Michael Decker received
$11,500 from industry-related donors, including $8,000 on the day Jim Black
was elected Co-Speaker – Feb. 5, 2003. “Video-poker money was the
largest share of $30,000 Decker’s campaign got in the 10 days before or
after that vote from donors tied to interests and individuals backing Black,”
Hall said. None of the donors had ever given to Decker before.
• The Decker
campaign report “camouflages most of these donors, which raises
suspicions,” he said. “You wonder who raised that
money, what’s to hide?” Donors are listed with misleading or incomplete
information, he noted; often the spouse is listed, rather than the recognizable
donor.
• Decker’s donations from individuals
linked to video-poker come from convenience store and truck stop owners and
employees, including one
• A week after receiving the major video-poker
donations, Decker used his campaign account to pay $8,249.50 for a Chevrolet
for his automobile collection, plus a $232 plane ticket to Florida to pick
up the car. Even though he received $104 per day for lodging and other expenses
as a legislator, Decker spent thousands of dollars from his campaign account
for motels, food, and gas while the General Assembly was in session.
• The Amusement
Machine Association PAC gave a total of $48,800 to 67 state legislative
candidates in the 2004 election, about the same level as the 2002 election,
when it first became active. In addition, the PAC contributed $4,000 to the NC
House Democratic Caucus and $3,800 to the NC Black Legislative Caucus during
2004.
• Representative Bill
Culpepper (D-Edenton) received $6,000 from the Amusement PAC in 2004,
ranking him second behind Black’s $8,000. Culpepper handled the 2004
legislation backed by Black and the industry that would have increased
regulatory fees on video-poker machines, rather than ban them. The state Senate
refused to go along with that version of the bill and it died.
• Hall pointed out the overlap in the money and votes on the bill. Of
the 60 House members who backed the Culpepper/Black bill on its crucial second
roll-call vote, 50 received video-poker PAC money. By contrast, of the 53 House
members who opposed the bill, only 7 received Amusement PAC funds during
2003-2004 – and 4 of those 7 changed their votes on the final, third roll-call
vote to Yes or Not Voting.
• Only two state Senate
candidates (David Hoyle and Janet Cowell) received
contributions from the industry PAC – a total of $750.
• The individual donors
include video-poker distributors and operators with machines in their bars,
convenience stores, adult nightclubs, or truck stops. Hall said that some of
the donors have run afoul of the law for offenses ranging from illegal
nudity and drug activity in their strip clubs (e.g., W.D. “Slim” Baucom, who had 18 video-poker machines in eight Charlotte
locations during this period) and seizure of illegal gambling devices,
including video-poker machines that pay out cash winning (e.g., Bobby Harrison,
Clarence Ray “Bucky” Jernigan, Keith Farrish and Jeff Burleson).
“When you look at the track record of this industry, you can understand the
frustration of the sheriffs who don’t understand how it continues,” said Hall.
“The danger is that its pattern of illegal behavior will infuse our political
system. This is a case where politicians should ‘Just Say No’ to money linked
to corruption and push hard for an alternative source of clean campaign money.”
Click here
for details about Michael Decker's campaign money.
Click here for
a chart correlating Amusement PAC donations and votes on video-poker
legislation (the PAC's 2004 donations are listed here).
Click here
for a chart of video-poker donations from individuals.