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May 11, 2003

Stevens Point - Former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson on Saturday denounced new casino gambling deals signed by Gov. Jim Doyle, saying the Democratic governor "sold" the state's future much too cheaply.

"If I would have negotiated that, it would have been in the neighborhood of $1 billion," Thompson said, putting his own value on gambling compacts Doyle has signed with eight of the state's 11 tribes.

Thompson's speech at the state Republican Party convention was his first public assessment of Doyle, who took the office nearly two years after Thompson left Madison to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Thompson, continuing his old habit of dominating state Republican Party conventions, also said:

He will run for "elective office" again sometime in Wisconsin, after he takes a break from government - a vague promise that covers anything from mayor of native Elroy to governor for a fifth time. Thompson, 62, is the only four-term governor in state history.

Republican Party officials privately say there is almost no chance he will run for governor against Doyle in 2006. But Thompson was coyer, saying, "I will someday run for elective office in Wisconsin again, someday."

There is only a "slim to none" chance that he will run against U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in 2004. But he specifically invited four other Republicans - two legislators, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow - to run against Feingold.

A stunned Walker quickly said he will not run against Feingold, saying he will seek re-election in 2004. The three other Republicans named by Thompson - Farrow, state Sen. Bob Welch of Redgranite and Rep. Terri McCormick of Appleton - said they were considering such a run.

In his criticism of Doyle's gambling compact agreements, Thompson did not specify over what period of time any new gambling compacts he would have signed would have required the tribes to pay $1 billion. The entire annual take for all tribal casinos is around $1 billion.

Thompson's contention that Doyle sold out the state too cheaply in the new gambling agreements is "preposterous," said Tom Krajewski, speaking for the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, which operates Milwaukee's casino.

If you include state sales and income taxes linked to tribal casinos, Wisconsin will get about $1 billion over the next four years, Krajewski said. Even counting only the anticipated payments the tribes will make under Doyle's deals, the state's casino take should hit $1 billion over about the next eight years, Krajewski said. Casino revenue for all tribes combined should rise about 50% in three to five years, he said.

Payouts now set

Doyle's new gambling pacts require the tribes to pay about $206 million to the state by mid-2005 - $157 million for expanded gaming, longer open hours and no formal expiration dates in the new compacts, and about $49 million the tribes must pay under previous compacts.

The $206 million is about $80 million less than Doyle estimated in mid-February. But only one state, Connecticut, is expected to get more in tribal casino payments next year than Wisconsin. Some states with non-Indian casinos have far higher rates of casino taxes.

Doyle aide Dan Leistikow said Saturday that the governor would not respond to Thompson's "name calling." Leistikow dismissed the former governor's comments as "negotiation envy."

Thompson's attack on Doyle over the casino deals comes on the heels of an unsuccessful Republican-led effort by the Legislature to kill them, an effort in which Thompson played a background role.

Thompson was consulted on casino strategy by key Republican legislative leaders, who have sued Doyle in court over the gambling deals and sought Thompson's advice in trying to get the U.S. Department of the Interior to kill the Potawatomi compact.

Thompson personally spoke with Interior Secretary Gale Norton about the Potawatomi compact while it was under review by her agency, Tony Jewell, a Thompson aide, said in an interview Friday. But Thompson did not urge her to reject the Potawatomi compact, Jewell said.

"All he did, when he saw Secretary Norton he told her she might be getting a call or letter from members of the (Wisconsin) Legislature," Jewell said. He said Norton was the only Interior official Thompson spoke to about the gambling deal.

Deal was approved April 5

Jewell said he couldn't imagine Thompson contacting any White House officials about the deal but said he didn't know whether he did. The Interior Department approved the Potawatomi deal April 5.

Krajewski, the Potawatomi spokesman, declined to comment on Thompson's actions related to the tribe's gambling deal. Thompson didn't discuss those efforts Saturday at the state GOP convention.

Thompson, who clashed repeatedly with Doyle when the Democrat was attorney general, said "liberals" - presumably Doyle, though he didn't name him here - have "gone from the New Deal to the Casino Deal."

"I guess the Casino Deal is one of the great moments in real estate history," Thompson added. "Manhattan Island: sold for 60 guilders. The Louisiana Purchase: sold for $15 million. Wisconsin's future: sold for $750,000 in campaign cash."

Days before Doyle's election, three tribes with the largest casinos donated $750,000 to the National Democratic Party, which returned more than $1 million to the state party to help with party efforts to elect the Democratic governor.

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