Sean McMorris levels accusation at Low

Despite having no evidence, Sean McMorris, a program manager for California Common Cause, has accused Assemblymember Evan Low of voting in favor of Senate Bill 549 as a kind of “political payback” for receiving favorable donations and ads from the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians. Low represents a Silicon Valley district which stands to lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues if Bill 549 is signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

would empower tribal governments to sue private card rooms for offering allegedly illegal card games

The Viejas Indians are one of the bill’s biggest supporters because of how it would empower tribal governments to sue private card rooms for offering allegedly illegal card games such as blackjack and pai gow poker. McMorris asserts that despite there likely being no direct coordination, the Viejas Indians would not have purchased $60,000 in radio ads supporting Low’s campaign for a congressional race “if Low didn’t vote for their interests.”

Tauri Bigknife, the tribe’s attorney general, disputed that assertion, saying: “It’s not payback. It’s not buying a vote. It’s none of those things. There’s no there, there, okay? It’s supporting someone that we’ve had a longstanding relationship with.”

Ads call Low a “trailblazer”

According to a filing with the Federal Election Commission, the Viejas tribe bought the digital radio ads on Aug. 8. The radio ads name Low as “a trailblazer” and “a fearless advocate” who has been “standing strong against discrimination and hate.” The ad—which notes it was paid for by the Viejas tribe—says: “Evan has been a powerful voice fighting to make the streets and neighborhoods of San Jose safe for you and your family.”

suspicion comes from their districts containing card rooms that will lose valuable tax revenue

The latest ad buy came less than a month after Low joined 14 other congressional members voting in favor of the bill. Suspicion comes from their districts containing card rooms that will lose valuable tax revenue if the bill is approved. Now thanks to Low voting for the measure a second time, Bill 549 passed both the Senate and the Assembly last week. All it needs is a signature—or veto—from Governor Gavin Newsom.

Low’s vote gained him the ire of his district’s cardrooms, who paid for negative advertising on a billboard near the San Jose airport. The billboard slams Low for siding with the Viejas tribes instead of his district and community.

Some, such as Bigknife, claim the billboard is misleading. The Viejas attorney general said: “They attacked him with false representations that were absolutely untrue in an effort, obviously, to demean his character and demean whether he cares about his community and to…undercut what he’s trying to do in running for Congress.”