Portsmouth Herald
1/11/96 Pg. A1
MOST OF THE GAMING INDUSTRY BACKS  KANSAS REPUBLICAN     
By Larry Favinger, Maine Bureau Chief, 01/11/96

    CONCORD - A public interest group says the gambling interests in Nevada
are betting huge amounts of cash on Bob Dole to be president.
   The Kansas Republican pulled in almost $400,000 in campaign contributions
from Nevada, $192,250 of which was identified as coming from gambling
interests, a New Hampshire Citizen Action report said. That gives Dole 70
percent of all presidential contributions coming out of Nevada and 91 percent
of the contributions coming from the gaming industry, its employees, and
their families.
   ``He is the darling of the gambling industry,'' Karen Hicks, executive
director of Citizen Action, said in a conference call yesterday. ``He gets
the lion's share of all contributions.''
   The Dole campaign had no comment.
   Hicks said the populations of Nevada and New Hampshire are comparable, but
while New Hampshire citizens have contributed $47,500 to Dole's campaign,
Nevada residents have given more than eight times that amount.
   Contributions to Dole and other presidential candidates were ``bundled,''
which is not against federal election laws but is, Hicks said, clearly not in
the spirit of disclosure laws.
   Bundling allows organizations and businesses to donate to political
campaigns indirectly, because the money comes from individuals.
   An example of this practice was a $78,300 contribution from 99 employees
and family members of firms owned by Steve Wynn, the chief executive officer
of Mirage Resorts and owner of tholden Nugget and Treasure Island casinos.
   The next highest ``bundle'' of contributions was $9,000 from the employees
of Barrick Gold Strike Mines.
   Hicks said all the Republican candidates, with the exception of Dole and
Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, have said they favor federal taxation and/or
regulation of the gaming industry, or that they do not look favorably at
gambling. Dole opposes any taxation of the industry at the federal level and
has repeatedly said regulation should come from the states where the gambling
occurs.
   ``They've really found a partner in Bob Dole,'' Hicks said of the gaming
interests. ``I think it's clear the gaming industry thinks it's buying
something.''
   This is the first in a series of reports Citizen Action will release
looking at the role of private money in the political system. The report on
gambling contributions was first because the figures ``just popped up. We
don't have a particular ax to grind. We don't have a stand on gambling,''
Hicks said.
   The importance of money in presidential politics can't be overemphasized,
she said. In the last four presidential cycles, the candidate who had raised
the most money by Jan. 1 was the party nominee.
   Hicks said her group has asked all the candidates to submit a plan by
later this month to get big money out of politics. To date, only Patrick
Buchanan has replied.
   The report was based on reports of donations to the Federal 
Election Commission from Dec. 22, 1994 to Sept. 30, 1995.