Tribal PAC contributions for 2002 Minn. elections total $552,550 as of October 21st

	November 8, 2002
Tribal PAC contributions for 2002 Minn. elections total $552,550 as of October 21^st Indian PACs, Indian lobbyists, and Indian gambling interests clearly had a vested interest in the outcome of a number of gambling proposals before the voters in the U.S. general elections on November 5^th. Indian gambling enterprises, which must be located on tribally-owned trust land, are extremely dependent on state-sanctioned gambling monopolies. Retaining governmental monopolies underwriting a controversial industry like gambling requires political influence. Indian tribes are far from “unique” in perceiving a correlation between political influence and campaign contributions, and Indian PACs are increasingly joining the “big money” players in American politics. The money – political influence – money cycle runs both directions for gambling operations. According to the old American proverb, “it takes money to make money,” and building and retaining the political infrastructure that makes casinos profitable takes money. Bill Eadington, an economics professor at the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, talked about the connections between Indian gambling and politics at a national aboriginal problem gambling conference in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, according to a November 6^th article in the Calgary Herald. Indian-owned casinos are an important source of income for Indian tribes, and they are also a path to political power, according to Eadington. “Economic power buys access, which means your issue is at the front,” Eadington said. Eadington told conference participants that Indian gambling enterprises have helped some U.S. Indian tribes become important political contributors. “I’m more familiar with the U.S. than Canada, but I think the same holds true for both -- when tribes have no money, no one heard what they said.” Political candidates, political parties, and political action committees must all file financial reports with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. Campaign finance information as of October 21^st, 2002, was released last week. In this issue, there is a chart showing some of the details of Minnesota tribes’ political contributions for the 2002 elections. This information only covers the period through October 21^st. The reports disclosing campaign contributions during the last two weeks of the election will be available in early January. As the 2002 campaign approached the home stretch, Indian PACs made some substantial late-in-the-campaign contributions to DFL organizations: $36,900 to the DFL House Caucus, $25,250 to the DFL State Central Committee, and $39,550 to the DFL Senate Majority Caucus. Indian PACs also contributed $6,650 to the House Republican Caucus. Other large contributions made after August 19^th were mostly to DFLers, including $900 to Satveer Chaudhary (DFL), $1000 to John Hottinger (DFL), $1300 to Mee Moua (DFL), and $705 to Becky Lourey (DFL). Indian PACs also made numerous campaign contribution in the $200 - $500 range between August 19^th and October 21^st. On October 25^th, Press/ON published a summary campaign contributions using the most recent information available at that time: reports detailing expenditures and contributions through August 19^th. Donations for the 2002 campaigns made as of August 19^th totaled $261,300, and donations made during the next two months, until October 21^st, totaled $197,450, for a total of $458,750 as reported by the tribal PACs. The total campaign contributions when calculated from the campaign finance disclosure statements filed by candidates and political organizations, do not match with the total contributions when calculated from the disclosure statements filed by the tribal PACs, with the tribal donors’ figures totaling $93,800 less than the recipients’ figures. Using the figures filed by the tribal PACs, Minnesota tribes’ campaign donations for the 2002 campaign included: $130,300 from Mille Lacs, $64,500 from Lower Sioux, $86,000 from Fond du Lac, $6,250 from Bois Forte, $90,450 from Shakopee, $80,250 from Prairie Island, and $1000 from Leech Lake.

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