Kevin Stitt Reelected Oklahoma Governor, Not OK for Tribal Casinos

Posted on: November 9, 2022, 07:22h. 

Last updated on: November 9, 2022, 07:22h.

Oklahoma voters have reelected Gov. Kevin Stitt (R). It’s an unfavorable result for the state’s vast tribal gaming industry, which backed the Democratic challenger, Joy Hofmeister. The Republican incumbent garnered 55.5% of the vote.

The tribes have quarreled with Stitt over revenue-share payments, and the standoff with the Governor’s Office has torpedoed any hope of legalized sports betting in the state in the short term.

Hofmeister gave her opponent a run for his money (literally – Stitt plowed $2 million of his own cash into his campaign). During the campaign trail, the Democrat focused on Stitt’s plan to divert public money into private schools, and mid-October polls had her edging the race.

But Stitt’s victory was helped by a last-minute advertising blitz that linked his opponent to President Joe Biden, according to the Associated Press. All of Oklahoma’s 77 counties voted against Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Open to Cooperation

While it’s not the result the tribal gaming industry had hoped for, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Chief Gary Batton said in a late statement Tuesday that he hoped Stitt and the tribes could iron out their differences.

“Although the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma endorsed Gov. Stitt’s opponent, we remain open to cooperating with the administration for the benefit of all Oklahomans,” Batton said.

We hope Gov. Stitt’s second term will be marked by an understanding of the economic, cultural, and social benefits Tribes provide to our state, and that he will agree to work with us on issues affecting all residents,” added Chief Batton. “As always, we seek to focus on the things we can agree on, rather than our differences.”

Despite Stitt’s status as the nation’s first and only Native American governor – he is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation – friction arose between him and the tribes soon after his inauguration in 2009.

Compact Squabble

Eager to squeeze more money from tribal casinos, the new governor demanded the renegotiation of a model compact, signed by most tribes in 2004. This agreement Native American gaming rights in Oklahoma and revenue-share payments with the state.

Stitt contended the language of the compact indicated it would expire on January 1 2020 and lines would need to be redrawn. The tribes argued the compacts were intended to roll over on that date and that negotiations were unnecessary.

The tribes were ultimately vindicated by a federal court in October 2020. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Supreme Court nullified compacts Stitt had negotiated with a handful of breakaway tribes.

The judge ruled he had overstepped his authority by offering these tribes sports betting rights because sports betting had not been legalized by the legislature.