BERKS COUNTY, Pa. – With primaries right around the corner, one hotly contested race in the State Senate’s 48th District has raised more than a million dollars. The candidates say stakes are high due to one issue at hand: gambling.<\/p>\n
You’ve seen the endless campaign ads \u2014 perhaps even more so than usual, if you’re within District 48, which serves parts of Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon Counties.<\/p>\n
“This does look like it’s tracking to be the most expensive primary in the history of Pennsylvania,” Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-48) said.<\/p>\n
With more than a million dollars spent between two candidates in the 48th District’s Republican primary race, experts say the spending could be unprecedented.<\/p>\n
“I can’t confirm 100 percent that it’s the largest ever spent, but I’m quite sure it probably is,” Nicholas Nicoletti, associate professor of Political Science at Alvernia University, said.<\/p>\n
Both candidates say a Georgia-based skills gaming company is at the center of it all.<\/p>\n
You’ve likely seen them in gas stations, bars and clubs like the VFW.<\/p>\n
Republican Senator Chris Gebhard, up for re-election, supports a proposal imposing a near-35 percent tax on the games, and regulations similar to gambling.<\/p>\n
Clovis Crane, a horse trainer challenging Gebhard, says he’s proposing legislation to regulate, but not tax the games “out of business.”<\/p>\n
Both say the issue itself is upping the ante for donors on each side.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people that, that do not like them as an industry,” Gebhard said.<\/p>\n
“I’m just lucky enough that this senator has pissed off enough people,” Crane said, “I have funding to fight him against the social issues that I want to fight against.”<\/p>\n
Finance reports show Gebhard has spent more than $880,000 to date on this campaign, with about $250,000 coming from political committees.<\/p>\n
Clovis, the report shows, has spent just under $500,000, with $450,000 coming from political committees.<\/p>\n
Hence, why you’re seeing more ads in the mail and on the screen.<\/p>\n
“Always pay attention to who’s sending the message and what they get out of it,” Nicoletti said. “You know, convince you or persuade you. What do they get out of that persuasion? And I think when voters start to think that way, they can start to see through all this money.”<\/p>\n