Gambling interests gave GOP group behind pro-DeWine PACs $1M

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gambling interests positioning for lucrative business as Ohio remakes its betting landscape donated nearly $1 million to a nonprofit group that helped successfully reelect Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a key decision-maker regarding the market’s future, an Associated Press review found.

The casino operators, slot machine makers, gaming technology companies, sports interests or their lobbyists that donated to the Republican Governors Association between January 2021 and this past September have stakes in Ohio's state lottery, the $1 billion sports betting industry launching in Ohioon Jan. 1, or both.

During the same period, RGA funneled over $2.2 million through its campaign arm, RGA Right Direction PAC, to benefit DeWine's successful reelection bid against three primary opponents and later Democrat Nan Whaley, records show. Most of that money went to two pro-DeWine committees: Free Ohio PAC and the Delaware-based dark money group Ohioans for Free and Fair Elections, whose public filings so far haven't disclosed its organizers. The RGA did not respond to repeated AP requests for comment.

Those contributing companies that responded to AP requests for comment said their giving wasn’t earmarked for DeWine. Two said they pay annual membership dues to RGA and give to Democratic governors, as well.

As governor, DeWine controls appointments to two commissions that hold sway over the swirl of lucrative contracts, complex regulations and coveted licensing agreements in play as Ohio sets up its new sports gaming marketplace and weighs expanded lottery offerings.

Of incumbent Republican governors in the U.S. that the RGA worked to reelect, DeWine was the only one at the time of the giving who was in the thick of considering sports betting.

DeWine...