The windy speeches and accolades are over. From the look of things, most of the protests have ended, too.
I’m not talking about the inauguration of President Donald Trump, but the departure from Washington of retiring U.S. Senator Harry Reid.
The casino industry may be snapping its suspenders at the prospect of one of its own taking up residence in the White House, but there’s no question that Reid will be greatly missed on Las Vegas Boulevard and wherever the gaming industry has needed a loyal ally and fierce infighter skilled in the ways of Washington.
Both on the record and behind the scenes, Reid worked for four decades to protect the industry. Because he’s lived such a public life, you can easily trace the connections back to the time he served as Lieutenant Governor under his friend and political mentor Mike O’Callaghan. Big Mike knew how to work the casino bosses and also understood the essential nature of maintaining the picture of regulatory propriety in a business that in the 1970s had no shortage of shadows.
The casino industry was full of scandals back then, but it also was an enormous job generator. The rise of the Culinary Union helped a lot of families of service workers to set down solid roots in the desert soil.
Reid later served as the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission during some of its most tumultuous — and dangerous — years. The time wasn’t without controversy, but it made him tougher. If anything, it prepared him to ride shotgun for an evolving casino industry as a member of the House of Representatives and then as a force to be reckoned with in the U.S. Senate.
Whether it was tribal gaming, industry tax and reporting issues, or the push to help rescue the CityCenter project of MGM Resorts, Reid was omnipresent.
That institutional memory and outright clout is impossible to replace. No one should expect Nevada’s now-senior Senator, Dean Heller, a member of the Republican majority, to match Reid’s effectiveness. And that goes double for freshman Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of the minority Democrats.
In September, The Washington Post reported that the American Gaming Association was spending thousands of dollars in outreach to members of Congress in anticipation of Reid’s retirement. It was a savvy decision that also underscored the gravity of Reid’s impending departure.
The Post also reported that at Caesars Entertainment, executive vice president of government affairs Jan Jones Blackhurst was racking up lots of frequent flyer miles by making repeated trips to Washington. A long-time friend and political ally of Reid, Jones Blackhurst’s affection for the man and respect for his political importance was palpable in an interview.
“We’ve had a gift in Harry Reid,” she said. “Now we need to learn to be smart and fast on our own. All of us are acutely aware that the strong voice we always had representing the industry in Washington will be diminished. …You became so dependent on Senator Reid, or comfortable as it were, you didn’t always build all the relationships with other states [where] we do business.”
Caesars has a presence in 13 states, and the industry thrives in many more. With complex and potentially volatile issues such as the legalization of sports betting, the growth of online gambling, the rapid evolution of e-sports, the ever-changing financial reporting system, and the increasingly political stances of some of the industry’s major players, there are a lot of interests at stake.
The gaming industry may have an ally in the new president, but it will miss Harry Reid.
John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at jlnevadasmith@gmail.com, or on Twitter @jlnevadasmith.
