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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2003

"The campaign manager for then-Gov. Scott McCallum says the Ho-Chunk dangled a $500,000 contribution for whichever gubernatorial candidate agreed to allow the tribe to run its casinos for as long as the wind blows and the grass grows.

Darrin Schmitz, now the executive director of the state Republican Party, said his guy wouldn't extend the gambling agreements beyond 15 or so years, and ended up not getting a nickel from the tribe.

Officials with new Gov. Jim Doyle denied that they cut any pre-election deals with the Ho-Chunk.

But the tribe did drop a $500,000 soft-money donation with the Democratic National Committee just days before the gubernatorial runoff - certainly the largest political gift by a Wisconsin tribe. The DNC then dumped nearly $1 million in Wisconsin in the final week of the increasingly tight race to help elect Doyle and the rest of the party's slate."

Get the Story:
Spivak and Bice: Ho-Chunk dangled $500,000 donation, McCallum aide says (The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 2/23)

Related Stories:
Column: Big money influenced Wis. governor (2/21)
Oneida Nation reaches new deal with state (2/20)
Wis. tribe announcing new casino compact (2/19)