Donation draws attention
A $10,000 contribution from Florida casino mogul Jeffrey Soffer to the campaign war chest of Alabama governor contender, US Senator Tommy Tuberville (R), has drawn heavy fire.
The ex-Auburn football coach’s campaign for Alabama governor has drawn wide criticism in a state with some of country’s strictest gambling laws, its most conservative religious groups, and a tribe fiercely opposed to commercial gambling expansion.
why a non-Alabama-based casino bigwig “would back ‘Coach Tub’”
Tuberville’s $10,000 came via Soffer’s Big Easy Casino in Florida and, according to AL.com, is the first donation by a casino owner to an Alabama political campaign since 2014. The local publication stated that the donation has raised questions about why a non-Alabama-based casino bigwig “would back ‘Coach Tub’ unless he sees potential for gambling expansion” in the state.
Gambling-sensitive state
Given Alabama’s religious views and the Poarch Band of Creek Indian’s staunch defense of any competition to their three casinos, no bill to regulate iGaming or lottery has passed in the state over the past 25 years.
As such, the contribution from a casino owner, despite being completely legal under campaign finance rules, was bound to get Alabamians agitated. AL.com cited former Professor of Political Science at Athens State University, Jess Brown, as saying that Soffer’s donation “may prompt Christian groups to seek greater clarity about Tuberville’s position.”
Tuberville, however, is not even campaigning on a pro-gambling ticket, stating instead that Alabama voters should choose for themselves via a referendum.
Call for clarity
Brown stated that Tuberville and other candidates for Alabama governor should, however, make their views about the referendum “crystal clear during the primary campaigns.”
“Amorphous phrases about a ‘comprehensive’ solution to the gambling issue in Alabama has been used in the past and is, in my view, nothing more than evasive language,” Brown said.
A bill titled the Clean Lottery Act introduced in November would place a standalone lottery unlinked to gambling interests on the November ballot as a constitutional amendment.
