A hotel tower in the shape of a guitar is rising at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Photo: Seminole Hard Rock

Compacts | Legislation | Public Relations

Seminole Tribe claims victory in costly campaign to protect gaming enterprise

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

It cost nearly $25 million but the Seminole Tribe has emerged victorious with its campaign to limit non-Indian gaming in Florida.

With a substantial number of precincts reporting, unofficial results show that Amendment 3 was approved with over 71 percent of the vote. Voters in Charge, the group bankrolled by the tribe, celebrated the results on Tuesday evening.

"By their overwhelming vote in support of Amendment 3, Florida voters have given the people, not the politicians and lobbyists, control over gambling," John Sawinski, the president of Voters in Charge, said in a statement after the returns made the outcome clear. "Florida voters have kicked open the doors of Tallahassee's back rooms and demanded an end to gambling industry influence in the hallways of the capitol."

As the group's name suggests, Amendment 3 puts gaming in the hands of voters. All future non-Indian proposals must be put to a vote of the people, and such projects must be approved by 60 percent of voters.

The high bar does not affect the tribe's six gaming facilities in southern Florida from threats. Those fall under a Class III gaming compact that promises regional exclusivity to the tribe in exchange for a share of the revenues.

But what it does is protect the tribe's gaming enterprise from future threats. Despite the exclusivity pledge, lawmakers have repeatedly floated proposals to expand non-Indian facilities in the state, all the while refusing to extend the Class III compact.

The state itself has in fact authorized an expansion non-Indian gaming in violation of the agreement, a federal judge ruled two years ago this month.

The tribe, however, has continued to share revenues as envisioned by the compact. Since 2004, more than $1.75 billion has gone to the state.

The tribe wasn't the only backer of Voters in Charge. The Walt Disney Company donated nearly $20 million to the effort.