New PAC targets Malek

COEUR d’ALENE — The manager of the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls has formed a new political action committee that is specifically targeting one Republican legislative candidate in the May 17 primary.

“The new PAC is for independent expenditures,” said Doug Okuniewicz. “Most of that money is directed at Luke Malek.”

Malek, R-Coeur d’Alene, is running for re-election for Seat 4A in the Idaho House of Representatives. His challenger in the Republican primary is Art Macomber.

Okuniewicz said his PAC, Committee for Principled Government, is targeting Malek primarily because he works as an attorney for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, which was responsible for introducing legislation to ban historic racing machines in the 2015 legislative session. Malek told The Press he is not employed with The Tribe, but in the past, his firm has done some work for some of the Tribe’s holdings.

In 2013 the Idaho Legislature passed a law legalizing “historic racing machines” that played old horse racing videos on which gamblers could bet. Lawmakers said they were led to believe, at the time, that the betting would be on a pari-mutuel platform, which is legal under state law.

Last year, however, the Legislature learned the machines actually resembled video slot machines — which are specifically illegal in state law — and some lawmakers questioned whether the betting was in fact pari-mutuel. After weeks of political wrangling, and a botched veto attempt by Gov. Butch Otter, the Legislature successfully repealed the 2013 authorization bill that allowed the machines in the first place.

The ban forced Okuniewicz to retire 35 of those machines and forced Les Bois Race Track near Boise out of business. Les Bois had invested far more money into the historic racing machines.

While that issue does have something to do with Okuniewicz’s desire to unseat Malek, he said the PAC has a number of reasons to go after the two-term legislator.

“We feel like we never get a fair shake with Malek,” he said.

Malek said, in an interview Friday, that he could only recall the one issue that Okuniewicz has brought before the Legislature, and that was historic horse racing, which was later dubbed instant racing.

“Frankly, it was his dishonesty that got the instant racing before the Legislature in the first place,” Malek said. “I don't know if he thinks copying Wayne Hoffman (with the Idaho Freedom Foundation) is the right approach.”

Coeur d’Alene Racing, which owns the Greyhound Park, also donated $3,500 to Hoffman’s other Idaho Freedom Action nonprofit. Idaho Freedom Action is also targeting Malek for supporting the state insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act.

Okuniewicz’s first mailer followed a similar attack by the Idaho Freedom Association a week earlier and used the same issue to attack Malek for the “Unaffordable Care Act.”

“His flier said I brought the Affordable Care Act to Idaho,” Malek said. “And that is a lie that has nothing to do with the horse racing issue he brought down to Boise.”

Malek said despite the fact he believes the horse racing issue was brought before the Legislature dishonestly, he worked very hard to find a solution that would not have banned the machines at the Greyhound Park.

“Well, if he is going to continue to attack me, I hope he chooses tactics that are equally as ineffective as the first one,” Malek said.

When asked if he planned to bring the instant horse racing issue up again in the next legislative session, Okuniewicz said at this point he is just trying to keep the Greyhound Park up and running.

“Right now we are focused on today,” Okuniewicz said. “We’ll worry about tomorrow when it gets here.”

Coeur d’Alene Racing also spent more than $40,000 supporting a slate of candidates in the 2014 election cycle with a PAC called Winning For Idaho, which Okuniewicz said is a horse racing industry PAC that was created to donate to candidates.

He still supports that PAC, but he is not as involved in the decision-making for that PAC as he once was.