Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Gallagher attacks Crist on slots

The charge adds to the growing rancor in the Republicans' rival campaigns for governor.

By ADAM C. SMITH
Published December 6, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Turning the heat up a notch in the Republican gubernatorial campaign, Tom Gallagher's campaign on Monday chastised Charlie Crist as inconsistent and ambiguous about expanded gambling in Florida.

"Once again Charlie Crist is taking multiple and contradictory positions on an issue important to Republican voters," Gallagher campaign spokesman Albert Martinez said of Crist's stance on whether a constitutional amendment allowing slot machines in Broward County should be repealed.

Gallagher's shot at Crist came on the opening day of a five-day special session in which lawmakers are supposed to write rules to implement a voter initiative that passed last year allowing slots in Broward. Gallagher casts himself as the true social conservative in the race and his campaign depicts Crist as a frequent waffler.

Crist, Florida's attorney general, said he has been consistent on slots: He favors repeal, but supports honoring the wishes of Broward voters, who approved a referendum in March authorizing slot machines at four parimutuel facilities there.

Crist told the St. Petersburg Times in October that out of respect for the "will of the people," he did not intend to join Gallagher and other Republican leaders in pushing hard to repeal the slots amendment. But during a news conference touting campaign endorsements by 35 legislators, Crist provided fodder for the Gallagher campaign's waffling charge.

Does he favor repealing the amendment? "I do. I do," Crist said. "I don't think we need to expand it (gambling)."

But moments later, Crist said the Legislature should allow slots in Broward.

"I think they have to honor what the people have voted for, yes. I think that's very important," Crist said. "It's their Constitution. They decided to amend it and Broward County decided to move forward. You have to respect the will of the people. If they decide to change their minds later, that's fine, too ... "

His positions, he said, are "not inconsistent."

Gallagher, Florida' chief financial officer, is not immune from charges of having it both ways on gambling either. In October, he flew to Boston for a fundraising reception organized by Paul Cellucci, the former governor of Massachusetts who is now an executive with Magna Entertainment Corp. Magna owns a Broward racetrack, Gulfstream Park, and this fall took four state lawmakers on a controversial trip to Canada aboard a private jet.

Gallagher's campaign said the Cellucci fundraiser had nothing to do with gambling interests and released the names of two dozen people it said attended the event and have no gambling ties. Besides, Gallagher spokesman Martinez said, "anybody contributing to the Gallagher campaign knows without question that he opposes the expansion of gambling, and the same cannot be said for Charlie Crist."

To bolster its case against Crist, the Gallagher campaign noted that the state GOP last year sent voters a mailing against the constitutional amendment allowing slots in Broward and Miami-Dade.

"Charlie Crist was nowhere to be found and refused to join Gov. Bush, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher and Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson in opposing (that initiative)," the Gallagher campaign said in an e-mail.

Crist said it was simply a logistical matter - the party could not reach him to get his permission to use his name before the mailer went to the printer.

Gallagher has been known as a moderate Republican throughout his political career but is running in this race as a strong social conservative. At a news conference Monday, one lawmaker heralded Crist with a swipe at Gallagher.

"We are here to show our support for a man who doesn't have to reinvent himself - somebody who has been guided by deep-rooted conservative principles," Rep. Jeff Kottkamp, R-Cape Coral, said of Crist.

--Tallahassee bureau chief Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 6, 2005, 02:15:34]