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State of Play’s TL;DR
- A Missouri Republican Senate primary is becoming a proxy fight over gambling policy.
- Illinois-based J&J Ventures is funding attack ads in a race tied to video lottery terminals legalization.
J&J Ventures of Effingham, IL, gave $266,000 to the newly created Legio XIII PAC, according to the Missouri Independent, making it the PAC’s sole donor. The PAC then spent at least $44,000 on radio ads in Springfield, Lebanon, and Rolla attacking former state Rep. Hannah Kelly.
The ads accuse Kelly of being “bought and paid for” by casino, marijuana, and pharmaceutical interests.
The spending matters for gambling policy because state Rep. Bill Hardwick, one of four Republicans in the August primary for Missouri’s 16th Senate District, is the chief House sponsor of legislation to legalize video lottery terminals (VLTs). J&J Ventures has also given $4,000 directly to Hardwick’s campaign and $95,000 to the Missouri Enterprise Fund PAC aligned with him.
Kelly said J&J is spending heavily “to help Bill Hardwick tell a lot of lies about me.” Hardwick told KBIA, “I don’t really know anything about it.”
Kelly’s campaign has received $75K from VLT opponents
The race has turned into a broader argument over whether Missouri should expand legal gambling options or continue cracking down on so-called “gray-market machines” in gas stations and VFW halls.
Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is enforcing against those games, while candidates in the race have split on whether legal video lottery should replace them.
Kelly’s campaign has accepted $50,000 from PENN Entertainment. PENN owns two Missouri casinos and opposes VLTs. The campaign also received $25,000 from the Missouri Gaming PAC, which represents all 13 of the state’s casinos.
Kelly said she would not vote to let legal slot-style machines return. State Rep. Don Mayhew also opposes expanding VLTs. Rep. Philip Lohmann, also a Republican candidate for state Senate in the 16th District, supports legalizing VLTs, saying that while he may not personally favor gambling, adults “can do what they want with their own money.”
Hardwick has defended his bill by saying local communities would decide first whether to allow gaming and that the proposal would limit machine numbers.
Based on reporting by Rudi Keller for the Missouri Independent.
