John McCain may be down in the polls but he is leading Barack Obama in donations from the gaming industry.

The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics says the former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has received more than $260,000 from gaming interests. The liberal-leaning Progressive Accountability puts the amount even higher: $951,000, a figure that includes contributions from gaming lobbyists.

"This shouldn't be too much of a surprise," University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Erik Herzik told The Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Individual casino operators provide money based on their own ideological and political interest. Big business tends to lean Republican."

McCain is an avid gambler, according to numerous news reports. He was an original co-sponsor of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 though he angered tribes by proposing a major overhaul that would have limited new casinos.

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GAMING AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: All in for McCain (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 10/26)