October 30, 2002
Supporters of initiatives pick up last-minute money
from the Idaho Stateman.com

Idaho tribal leaders have put another $90,000 of their casino profits into their campaign to persuade voters to ratify the legality of the electronic machines that have made reservation gambling lucrative. 
The campaign finance disclosure report filed late Tuesday with the secretary of state showed the Nez Perce Tribe dumping the additional money into the drive a week ago. The Coeur d´Alene Tribe added another $9,000 and the Kootenai Tribe made its first contribution to the campaign of just more than $12,000. 

To date, the tribes have raised nearly $3.6 million, making it the most expensive proposition campaign in Idaho history. 

Just during the first three weeks of October, the tribes spent over $400,000 on broadcast and print advertising and another $125,000 on direct mail. 

Their opponents, a group called Straight Talk: Gambling in Idaho, managed to raise just under $100,000 and spent most of that on the ill-fated attempt to persuade the Supreme Court to keep the initiative from coming to a vote. 

Spawned by the Legislature´s rejection of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne plan to end the debate over the legality of the machines, the initiative is expected by most officials to gain a solid majority on Nov. 5. 

By contrast, the campaign to ratify the Legislature´s repeal of the 1994 term-limits initiative closed in on its fund-raising goal of $97,000 during early October. Idahoans for Voter Rights raised another $38,000 through last week, pushing its total war chest to $93,000. 

The term-limits supporters picked up another $40,000 from U.S. Term Limits, the Washington, D.C.-based group that has been a major benefactor of the Idaho term-limits movement over the years. 

Of the more than $500,000 raised by pro-term-limit forces this year, less than $6,000 has been donated by Idaho voters. 

Edition Date: 10-30-2002