Social conservatives in Iowa are reminding Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is considering a run for president, that he could lose support in their state if he approves the $800 million Hard Rock casino for the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin.
Walker has until Feb. 19 to make the decision. The off-reservation project was proposed by the Menominees and backed by Hard Rock International, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
The governor had more than eight months to decide the hot-potato issue. He said he wanted to wait until after the election to focus on the pros and cons and make sure the casino is good for Wisconsin. His political opponents maintain he delayed because didn't want gambling made an election issue.
According to a story Saturday in theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, "gambling opponents want to make sure (Walker) doesn't forget Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucus to select presidential nominees." They are pressing him harder than ever to turn the Hard Rock down.
Iowa is particularly important to Walker, not only because it's first, but because hespent part of his childhood there. He's counting on that connection headed into 2016 to lure votes and start his campaign with a bang.
But Tom Coates, executive director of Consumer Credit of Des Moines and other social conservatives in Iowa aren't making it easy. Coates wrote to Walker after his November re-election, including with the letter a petition against gambling expansion signed by 600 Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and both Republican National Committee members from the Hawkeye State, Steve Scheffler and Tamara Scott.
Wrote Coates, "As you are contemplating a presidential bid, I sincerely hope you will consider a 'No Expanding Gaming' policy."
Then came a letter in December from Bob Vander Plaats, president and chief executive officer of The Family Leader. Vander Plaats, says the Journal Sentinel, is influential among social conservatives in Iowa.
"The increased societal problems of divorce, bankruptcy, debt, depression and suicide, and the additional cost to local governments to handle these problems and the crimes associated with gambling far outweigh any perceived advantages that may be provided by expanded gambling," he wrote.
Iowa has shown it's serious about social conservative issues. Though Vander Plaats is a three-time loser in Iowa gubernatorial elections, he led the successful effort to dump three state Supreme Court justices in 2010 after they ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. He also chaired Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign in Iowa in 2008, the year Huckabee won the Republican caucus.
Nevertheless, earlier in the month Walker -- a Baptist minister's son who touts his record opposing abortion --said he wouldn't let his casino decision be influenced by a presidential campaign still in its early stages.
"If it was based purely on politics, I could have made that decision a long time ago," Walker said of the casino decision in the Journal Sentinel.
"I've taken the full amount of time and I've actually removed the political decision, whether it's politics here in Wisconsin or politics anywhere else ... to make sure the decision here is really based on what's in the best interests of the hard-working taxpayers of Wisconsin."
Menominee spokesman Michael Beightol said the tribe "sees the governor as engaged on the issue and believes he will make his decision based on what is good for Wisconsin."
Said Beightol, "We're not worried at all about anything that takes place in Iowa because the governor is focused on the people of Wisconsin."
The Seminole Tribe of Florida's deal with the Menominee Tribe could channel millions of dollars in profits from the Badger State back to Florida.
The Menominee, among the poorest Native American people in the country, said they needed a cash partner or they couldn't get their casino off the ground. That's why the Seminoles are involved.
Talks between the Seminoles and Menominee have been going on for two years. Frank Fantini, CEO of the Fantini Gaming Report, called Hard Rock "a very big brand, known internationally. The brand has a great reputation ... it would give immediate visibility to the casino in Kenosha."
Early last year Walker said he would approve the Kenosha casino only if each of the state's other 10 tribes blessed the proposition -- effectively giving each tribe veto power over the proposal. He also has said a tribe must show that an off-reservation casino would result in "no new net gaming."
The Seminole-Menominee partnership would mark the first time for any out-of-state tribe to manage a casino in Wisconsin.
Hard Rock International CEO Jim Allen claims the site would be a regional draw.
We believe there are a tremendous amount of people in the state of Wisconsin today who are going to casinos in Illinois, Allen says. We think a facility so close to the Illinois border will bring those people back to the state of Wisconsin and bring back those jobs and revenues to the state of Wisconsin.
Not all stakeholders are impressed with the Seminoles or think they should be anywhere near the Wisconsin tribal gaming industry.
The Milwaukee media have given a lot of exposure to public filings from the National Indian Gaming Commission, showing the Seminole Tribe has paid more than $12 million in fines handed down by the federal government since 1997 -- more than any other tribe in the nation.
Walker, meanwhile, is definitely in the 2016 race. He recently hired a campaign manager and told an RNC gathering in San Diego the party needs a "fresh face" such as a governor for its 2016 nominee.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
