Gambling interests donated more than $3 million to top N.C. lawmakers and political committees over the past two years in an effort to legalize forms of gambling in the state, a recent analysis shows. 

The analysis that Bob Hall, the former executive director of Democracy NC and a campaign finance watchdog, shared with Carolina Public Press, shows that this amount was given to state lawmakers and political committees to support their reelection campaigns.

Contributions include a $50,000 donation from Baltimore-based casino development firm, The Cordish Companies, a developer of the proposed casino in Rockingham County and $635,850 from North Carolina-based Grover Gaming, a national video poker machine vendor. 

Some critics say money from gambling interests influences how state lawmakers prioritize casino legalization in the state as an issue.

Most observers say the legislation legalizing new forms of gambling in the state will likely not pass, as Republicans remain divided on the issue. Last year, the N.C. legislature’s Republican supermajority was also divided on the issue, leading to a stalemate and delaying the state budget by more than three months, which affected the funding of state programs. 

“It’s legal and to some degree it’s expected, but I think citizens need to understand who’s giving money to their representatives and senators,” said Christopher Cooper, a professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University.

“These interests are going to continue to give money, so even if the legislation doesn’t make it in this session, it will be brought up again in the future.” 

Where cash is coming from, who it’s going to

Gambling industry executives gave about $1.1 million in direct campaign contributions to North Carolina candidates and parties, while donating $2.1 million to GOPAC and the Republican State Leadership Committee, both of which are federal 527 committees or IRS-designated, U.S. tax-exempt political organizations, Hall’s analysis of state and federal reports shows. 

About 93% of the direct campaign contributions went to Republican legislative candidates and in-state party committees, according to Hall. While, top 10 state lawmakers received more than $500,000 in direct campaign contributions since January 2022, according to his analysis.

The donors include executives of national and multinational companies from other states and a few national companies from North Carolina. 

Out of state companies include the following: Nevada-based Boyd Gaming Corporation and IGT, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc., Maryland-based The Cordish Companies, Illinois-based J&J Ventures and Georgia-based Primero Games. 

Churchill Downs Inc. made the largest contribution, based on Hall’s analysis, of $670,000 in donations, followed by J&J Ventures, which made a contribution of $638,500.

Three North Carolinians who own national video poker companies are also among the donors: Bobby Huckabee, the owner of Southland Entertainment, Garrett Blackwelder, the owner of Grover Gaming and Gardner Payne, who owns Legacy Arcade and Payne Operations. 

In the past, Huckabee has been at the center of a video poker scandal. In the 2000s, the scandal exposed former Democratic state House Speaker Jim Black’s fundraising practices and corruption. Huckabee’s company, Southland Entertainment, made $234,600 campaign contributions to state candidates and parties during the recent period. 

Blackwelder’s Grover Gaming made the third largest contribution of a total of $635,850 contributions to state candidates, state parties as well as to the Republican State Leadership Committee, or RSLC, and GOPAC.

In November 2022, The Cordish Companies donated to state Senate leader Phil Berger and 10 other legislators, as reported by CPP. A subsidiary of the company also made a $50,000 donation to the RSLC – the company’s only donation to RSLC in records from the past decade according to Hall. 

Most of the legislative recipients were Republican lawmakers, with the exception of two Democrats, Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, and Rep. Michael Wray, D-Northampton. 

Top legislative recipients of gambling-related campaign contributions from January 2022 to March 2024:

• Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, received $86,000. 
• Rep. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, received $77,600.
• Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, received $68,700.
• Sen. Jim Perry, R-Lenoir, received $59,533.
• House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, received $57,400.
• Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, received $53,700.
• Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne, received $43,800.
• Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, received $38,100.
• Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson, received $35,600.
• Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, received $33,700.
• Sen. Danny Britt, R-Robeson, received $26,750.
• Sen. Dave Craven, R-Randolph, received $25,500.
• Rep. Robert Reives, D-Chatham, received $22,700.
• Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus, received $18,400.
• Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, received $17,100.
• Rep. Jon Hardister, R-Guilford, received $16,650.
• Sen. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, received $15,600.
• Rep. Michael Wray, D-Northampton, received $15,000.
• Sen. Todd Johnson, R-Union, received $14,100.
• Sen. Mike Lazzara, R-Onslow, received $13,600.
• Rep. Larry Strickland, R-Johnston, received $13,500.
• Rep. Charles Miller, R-Brunswick, received $13,350.
• Rep. Ray Pickett, R-Alleghany, received $12,000.
• Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Moore, received $11,750.
• Rep. Erin Paré, R-Wake, received $11,100.
• Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, received $11,000.
• Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Polk, received $10,500.
• Rep. John Bradford, R-Mecklenburg, received $10,500. 

CPP reached out to the 28 lawmakers for comment and only one directly responded prior to publication. 

“It is typical for various groups to donate to leadership positions in the General Assembly,” said Reives, the House Democratic leader, in an emailed statement. “Many of those donations are unsolicited.”

The director of the N.C. Republican Senate Caucus, Dylan Watts, reached out to CPP to comment on the campaign contributions after a series of emails to state senators who received them. 

“Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate received donations from the contributors you’re asking about,” Watts said in an emailed statement. “Members of the Senate Republican Caucus receive donations from thousands of people every election cycle.”  

“During the 2022 election cycle, Senate Republicans raised a combined $13 million,” Watts added. “So far in the 2024 election cycle, our members have raised more than $8 million. The donations you’re asking about account for about 2% of our fundraising during that time frame.” 

Why gambling interests are focusing on N.C.

Experts and critics are divided on whether donating millions of dollars gives gambling interests unfair advantage in the legislature, but most agree that these groups are focusing on North Carolina primarily for their business interests.

Currently in North Carolina, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians operates two casinos and the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation operates one. Additionally, sports betting was legalized in North Carolina very recently, in June 2023, and officially began in March 2024. 

By comparison, Virginia has four casinos, of which three are owned by tribes. The Caesars Virginia casino, in particular, which opened in 2023 in Danville, attracts business from nearby North Carolina residents.

The casino in Danville is about 25 miles from Reidsville and Eden, nearby towns just a half hour drive away in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Yanceyville in Caswell County, North Carolina, is only 14 miles from Danville.

In Virginia, casino gaming revenues totaled more than $65 million in March.

“There is lots of money to be made and clearly Virginia has made money from gambling,” Cooper said. 

But the money doesn’t directly translate into votes, Cooper said, referring to the $3 million from gambling interests. It does, however, prioritize issues, according to him.  

Where our legislature in North Carolina is right now, companies that want favorable legislation from political leaders have to pay up, according to Blair Reeves, the executive director and co-founder of Carolina Forward, a North Carolina-based nonprofit policy organization. 

“$3 million is a lot of money in any political campaign especially in North Carolina where we have very few competitive races because of partisan gerrymandering,” Reeves said.

“There’s a joke right now in the legislature, that you can’t throw a rock in the general legislative building without it hitting 30 lobbyists for casinos.”

Rockingham County, represented by Berger, is one of the proposed sites for casino development. 

Although Berger was born in New York and went to high school and college in Danville, since moving to Rockingham County the Berger family has become influential in North Carolina politics, especially Republican politics, with the Senate leader’s son Phil Jr. serving on the state Supreme Court.

However, the Berger political family does not have more vested interests in legalizing gambling than other politicians, according to Cooper, who doesn’t think they would stand to benefit financially more than other people. 

“But politically their interests are aligned, there’s no question,” he said. 

Having a casino site in Rockingham County would cut down cross border traffic and the flow of money going into Danville to go into the county, said Andy Jackson, the director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the right-leaning John Locke Foundation.

“Rockingham County would certainly benefit from this but I’m not aware that the Berger family is personally connected to this development,” he said. 

Bob Phillips, a lobbyist and the executive director of Common Cause of North Carolina, a left-leaning nonprofit organization, said he isn’t surprised to see this continued investment of millions of dollars from gambling interests to state lawmakers who are deciding on this issue.

“It’s a long game for big money, special interests,” Phillips said. “They know that investing isn’t just necessarily going to translate into success or what they want in the confines of a biennium or a session.”

The legalization of sports betting in North Carolina may have been a sign that gambling interest groups have made progress in the state, according to Jackson. But he doesn’t think there is a possibility that the legislation could pass before the general elections. 

“The industry may believe that they have a real shot of getting over the last hurdle on this one trying to get this passed,” Jackson said.

“They (state lawmakers) couldn’t even get a budget passed during the regular session here so I’m not expecting that they’re going to take up anything that controversial before the election.”

“Maybe if they come back in November or December after the election, they might take it up,” he said. Jackson’s comments are based on his analysis and don’t represent an official position of the Foundation, he added. 

Effects of casino development on local communities

Some groups and North Carolina residents are concerned about the effects of casino legalization and video poker in the state. In fact, in September, last year, some Rockingham County residents protested outside the legislature in Raleigh, arguing that developing a casino in their county would negatively impact their communities.

While casino development can result in increased employment opportunities, greater tax revenue for state and local governments and support for local businesses, in turn it can also disproportionately affect lower income residents and communities of color. 

Residents in lower income neighborhoods, for example, are twice as likely to have gambling problems, according to research from the University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions.

Between 40% and 60% of casino revenue came from problem gamblers, or those with a gambling addiction, according to several studies reviewed by the Institute for American Values.

This can in turn weaken local economies over time as local residents turn to gambling.