Gambling interests ponied up big to outside groups that spent more than $30 million on last year’s race for Kentucky governor.
Kentucky’s horse race tracks that have expanded into new forms of legalized gambling gave big to the Democratic Governors Association in 2023 which spent $19.2 million backing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection.
In reports filed with the Internal Revenue Service last week the DGA disclosed that it got $250,000 from Churchill Downs, $200,000 from Kentucky Downs, and $50,000 from Revolutionary Racing Kentucky during the second half of 2023.
Meanwhile, Pace-O-Matic, the Georgia-based manufacturer of gaming machines, and officials of the company gave at least $362,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2023. The RGA, in turn, spent $12.7 million backing Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s campaign for governor.
