This article originally provided by
The
Register-Herald
June 25, 2006
Weeks, Green spar over gambling money
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald reporter
Mike Green led the league in gambling contributions in West Virginia
legislative races for the May primary, prompting Sen. Russ Weeks to question why
the industry is spending so much money on the 9th District race.
In response, Green said Friday his campaign donations arrived from a variety of
sources and that he wasn’t beholden to any of them.
“I certainly made no promises to any of my contributors,” he said via e-mail.
Weeks pointed to an Associated Press story reporting Green, a businessman and
greyhound dog breeder, got more than $8,000 from gambling interests.
That made him the “biggest beneficiary” of gambling donations, the AP said.
“What has my opponent promised the racetracks in return for their
contributions?” Weeks asked. “Why are these gaming interests so anxious to elect
Mike Green to the state Senate from the 9th District?”
Weeks cited a number of racetrack interests that doled out money to candidates
state-wide.
“The fact that my opponent received more of this money than any candidate in the
state sends a disturbing message about why he is running for this seat,” Weeks
said. “I think voters deserve to know what the gambling interests know that they
don’t know.”
As for the matter of casino-style gambling as proposed at tracks in four
counties, Green said, “Like the senator, I have publicly declared that only the
voters should decide upon the issue of table games.”
Weeks said that was misleading since he would vote for a referendum if it were
conducted statewide, rather than limit it to Jefferson, Kanawha, Ohio and
Hancock counties, where dog and horse tracks operate.
“With only a little over a month since the primary, Russ Weeks has issued yet
another attack on my candidacy,” Green said. “If elected to the state Senate, I
pledge to represent the people of the 9th District through a spirit of
cooperation rather than a culture of confrontation.”
Green’s campaign manager, Larry LaCorte, faulted Weeks for identifying the
Democratic nominee as a “wealthy lobbyist” in his news release, pointing out
Green hadn’t served as a dog racing lobbyist since last year.
Green landed the nomination by outpolling former Senate Judiciary Chairman Bill
Wooton and Delegate Sally Susman, both of Beckley.
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
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