The backers of California’s Proposition 27 on Monday released their latest ad supporting the'sports betting initiative, and within hours a coalition of tribes opposed to the measure led by the powerful Pechanga Band of Mission Indians pushed back, calling the ad “shameful and despicable.”
Three smaller tribes, the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians, the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians, and the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe, are backing Proposition 27, the statewide mobile initiative put forth by commercial operators. About half of the tribes in the state are opposed. California has 109 federally recognized tribes and 69 tribal casinos.
The latest pro-Proposition 27 ad calls it a “game changer” and accuses “wealthy casino tribes who want all of the money for themselves” of trying to hold the smaller tribes down. The ad appears to be a response to an anti-Proposition 27 ad released in July that accused the backers of Proposition 27 of trying to “fool” California voters by waging a “deceptive” campaign. Both focus more on how tribes would be affected by the passage of Proposition 27.
The mere existence of the ad makes it crystal clear that California’s tribes are split on when and how mobile gaming should become legal and sets the stage for an already nasty political fight to become even more bitter.