Gambling supporters' contribution to Culver campaign investigated

State investigators are looking into donations made to Gov. Chet Culver's re-election campaign by supporters of a casino in Fort Dodge, The Des Moines Register reported Monday in a copyright story.

Dubuque-based Peninsula Gaming and three contributors to Culver's campaign are the focus of the investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

"I can confirm that we are working with the DCI in the investigation of this matter," said Bob Brammer, a spokesman for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.

Steve Daniel, one of the contributors to Culver's campaign, said Peninsula Gaming paid him and two partners $25,000 for work on the gambling license application process. Culver's campaign records show the three people contributed $25,000 to the campaign last year.

Daniel denied any link between the payment and the contribution. He said he and his two partners in the Webster County project, James Kesterson and Merrill D. Leffler, contributed to Culver because they support him.

"I've never been told by Peninsula or anybody to make a contribution to Governor Culver," said Daniel, a tire shop owner who has been trying to bring a casino to Fort Dodge for 10 years.

In Iowa, it is illegal to make, or knowingly receive, a political contribution in another's name. Making contributions in another's name is a serious misdemeanor, not a felony.

Daniel insisted there was no wrongdoing.

"What I'm more concerned about is the perception and how that might harm our application," he said.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission plans to rule May 13 on gambling license applications from Webster County and three other communities. Culver has urged the commission to approve all four licenses.

A Culver spokesman declined to say whether the governor, Lt. Gov. Patty Judge or members of their official or campaign staffs have been interviewed by the DCI.

"However, neither the governor's office nor the governor's campaign has any reason to believe that anyone with either organization is a target in the investigation," Culver's senior legal counsel, Jim Larew, said in a statement Sunday.

Larew said Culver supported a casino in Fort Dodge in 2006, the year he ran for governor, and that the contribution has not influenced the governor.

Culver campaign officials said the campaign donated the $25,000 from the three Fort Dodge casino supporters to charity after it became aware there were questions about the money.