Bevin’s gambling stance, investments at odds

Despite the fact that Matt Bevin opposes gambling “on every level,” two companies that he operated invested heavily in casinos while he was in charge — sometimes owning more than $37 million in gambling stocks at any one time — according to Security and Exchange Commission filings.

Between 2004 and 2011, Integrity Asset Management, which Bevin founded and served as CEO, owned gambling stocks in all but one quarter. And Veracity Funds owned casino stock in every quarter from February 2009 through February 2011.

The total amount the funds invested in gambling interests were typically less than 2 percent of the funds’ entire portfolios.

Bevin’s campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Martin Cothran, spokesman for the Family Foundation of Kentucky, which opposes expanded gambling, said he’s not concerned about the investments.

“What I would say about any candidate, no matter who it is, you have to obviously give priority to their current opinion,” he said. “Voters have to make a judgment whether it’s sincere, but your first indication of that is what they say.”

Cothran said he would take Bevin at his word on his current position “just like I would accept a candidate who said he was in favor of gambling when at some previous time, he opposed it.”

Bevin’s businesses have been a subject of discussion during his two campaigns for public office.

When he ran against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014, McConnell accused him of praising the federal bank bailout in an SEC filing for Veracity Funds. He had criticized McConnell for supporting the bailout.

Last month The Courier-Journal reported another Bevin company, an educational software firm called Academic Merit, advertises that its products are closely aligned with Common Core educational standards, which Bevin has said he opposes.

Bevin founded Integrity in 2003 and served as its CEO until November 2011, according to his LinkedIn page. He founded Veracity Funds in 2006 and served as president at least until he sold it in 2010. News accounts don’t say when he stepped down as president.

Despite his opposition and pledge to veto any legislation to expand gambling in Kentucky, Bevin invested in six different gambling companies, according to the SEC.

Of the two companies, Integrity was a much larger owner of gambling stock, beginning in 2004 when the company invested $5.1 million in three gambling companies — Caesar’s Entertainment, MGM Mirage and Penn National Gaming Co. The largest portion of that — $4.4 million was in Penn National.

Over the years, the company also invested in Harrah’s Entertainment, Ameristar Casinos and Isle of Capri Casinos.

Veracity invested in Ameristar, Isle of Capri and Penn National.

Integrity’s investment in Penn National swelled to more than $18 million by the end of 2010.

Penn National owns dog racing tracks, horse racing tracks and casinos in 16 states, including a casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind., situated near Indiana’s border with Kentucky. Penn National didn’t own that track when Bevin was investing in the company, however.

Caesar’s, which built what is now the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino in Elizabeth, Ind., just downriver from Louisville, has merged with Harrah’s. The company also owns Harrah’s Metropolis in Illinois, less than a half-hour from Paducah, Bluegrass Downs in Paducah and had a partial ownership in Turfway Park in Florence.

MGM Mirage owns casinos largely in Nevada. Ameristar owns casinos in six states and Isle of Capri owns casinos in seven states, including one in Cape Girardeau, Mo., which is an hour and a half drive from Paducah.

Bevin has said that he is opposed to gambling of all kinds and promised at a campaign event in March that he would veto any legislation allowing for the expansion of gambling, according to an audio recording of him posted to YouTube.

The issue came up when someone asked his positions on gambling, abortion and gay marriage — all three of which he said he opposes.

On gambling, he said, he was “absolutely opposed to it. 100 percent. I will do nothing, I would veto a bill to legalize gambling because I don’t see it as a solution.”

He went on to say that he believes gambling is a “regressive tax on the working-class poor,” causes social ills and isn’t a good investment for government.

“Why would I want to bring something like that to the citizens of Kentucky?” he asked. “I don’t know. On every level, I’m opposed to it.”

A study more than a decade ago estimated that about one-third of all Ohio riverboat casino gambling revenue — including what is now Horseshoe Southern Indiana and Harrah’s Metropolis — came from Kentucky.

David Bergstein, a spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party, declined to comment.

Daniel Kemp, a spokesman for Democrat Jack Conway, said the revelations show Bevin needs to release his tax returns so people will know where he has invested his money.

“The people of Kentucky deserve transparency, and this latest example of hypocrisy and dishonesty underscores why Matt Bevin should release his tax returns — just like Jack Conway has and just like past Republican gubernatorial nominees have.”

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Follow him on Twitter at @Joe_Gerth.