Every year when there’s no expansion of gambling, it is a win for No Casinos, and also for Disney. The 2014 session began with what seemed like a perfect context for gaming expansion. And ended with nothing but a faint glimmer of hope for casino allies thinking forward to next year.
No Casinos operated a flawless, well-tuned lobbying strategy, and with Disney aboard, ably thwarted some equally powerful foes — foes like Genting, Las Vegas Sands, parimutuels, and more.
It will get easier for the anti-casino crowd with Andy Gardiner as Senate president next year. And, as I have argued, casinos gained some strategic edges this year due to blunders by the Scott administration.
No doubt, having a 29-person lobby team helped No Casinos frustrate opponents. Among these, some big names: Mercer Fearington; the Johnson & Blanton firm; Colodny Fass Talenfeld Karlinsky Abate & Webb; Randy Enwright; Tom Gallagher; Dan Pollock; Liberty Partners; and more.
