At least $516,165 -- Includes 1996 ballot initiative spending

June 9, 1997

The Sooner State offers gamblers a slim choice of pari-mutuel horse betting, off-track betting parlors, and both charitable and high-stakes Indian bingo, but so far has not legalized casinos of any type. The ubiquitous Eddie DeBartolo Jr. led an attempt to change that last year with a measure to legalize casinos at existing racetracks -- including DeBartolo's own Remington Park track in Oklahoma City. The crassly named ballot campaign committee, Better Opportunities for Oklahoma's Students and Taxpayers (BOOST), spent more than half a million dollars, and succeeded in getting enough signatures to bring the casino question before voters. The measure should be on the ballot in 1998, but polls already indicate that it will be defeated, a prediction supported by history: Oklahoma voters defeated a 1994 lottery ballot measure by a landslide.

Campaign finance records and lobbyist information are available on paper from the state Ethics Commission; copies cost 25 cents per page. Mother Jones obtained the campaign finance report for the BOOST committee, which showed that it spent $516,165 on the failed casino petition drive, and that its sole contributor was -- you guessed it -- the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp.

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