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The head of the Indiana Democratic Party yesterday condemned what he termed efforts by Republicans to put a gambling question on the Nov. 7 ballot in Clark County.
Democratic Chairman Dan Parker called the move a waste of taxpayer-funded resources and a "cheap stunt" to lure conservative voters to the polls.
A petition with more than 800 signatures was submitted Tuesday to the county clerk's office as part of an effort to ask voters -- for a third time since 1993 -- whether they would support riverboat gambling in Clark County. The first two votes failed.
Even if voters approve it, the county would still be a long shot to land a riverboat casino. No licenses are available, and it likely would be difficult to get an existing boat to relocate.
The county's Republican Party didn't take a formal stance on the petition, but local GOP leaders were among those who signed it, even though some said they don't support gambling.
Glenn Murphy Jr., chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, said some conservative leaders supported the petition because they fear that Democrats might try to put the measure on the ballot during next year's municipal elections, when voter turnout is expected to be lower.
"The Democrats are just mad that it didn't go the way they wanted it to," Murphy said yesterday.
Tom Wolf, professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, said the real motivation behind the petition most likely is to help U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th District, in his re-election bid this fall.
Sodrel is in a tough race with Democrat Baron Hill of Seymour, who lost the seat to Sodrel two years ago. And Wolf said casino gambling is a hot-button issue for many voters.
"It's a game," Wolf said of the casino vote.
Tom Tomlin, who delivered the petition to the clerk's office, said in an e-mailed statement that the effort was not politically motivated. He also said people on both sides of the gambling issue signed the petition.
He could not be reached for additional comment.
Cam Savage, Sodrel's campaign manager, said the congressman was not involved in the petition drive.
Murphy said state-level Republicans also weren't involved. He said state-level Democrats are most likely responsible for stopping an effort by local Democrats to push for a gambling referendum.
John Perkins, a Jeffersonville City Council member, said earlier this week that state Democrats talked to him about his petition drive, which got under way before the Republican effort. Perkins never turned in his signatures, and he declined to comment on whether he would support the gambling initiative.
Parker said he spoke with Perkins at the party's June 3 convention in Indianapolis.
"We gave John the political realities of gaming up here (in Indianapolis)," Parker said. "Even if this thing passed, it would be highly unlikely for a gambling boat to land in Clark County."
Parker declined to comment on other details of the conversation, including whether he told Perkins to drop the petition drive.
Officials at the county clerk's office said yesterday that it might be a week or longer before the petition is certified.
Cody Kendall, Democratic co-general counsel for the Indiana Election Division, said the Clark County initiative might not be what the legislature had in mind when it authorized referendums on gambling.
"It's an abuse of the system if those individuals aren't actually trying to get that initiative passed," Kendall said.
Dale Simmons, the Election Division's Republican attorney, took a different view. He said voters should have a right to place public questions on the ballot regardless of their intent.
"Anything on the ballot is political," Simmons said. "It's a free country."
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