Online gambling in Massachusetts A.G. candidates dispute

Online gambling is at the centre of a political spat between two Attorney General hopefuls in Massachusetts following a Boston Globe report that one of them had been involved in the sector in the past.

Launching a political assault on her AG candidate rival Warren Tolman this week, fellow hopeful Maura Healey called into question his previous involvement as business development manager and 40 percent shareholder in Fast Strike Games, a local company that promotes interactive games for social media and mobile devices and hopes to partner with state lotteries to run cash-pay-out fantasy sports games.

Healey claims that this raises serious questions about Tolman’s interests and suitability to act as state Attorney General should issues surrounding the legalisation of online gambling come into play.

Responding to enquiries from the publication MassLive, Tolman’s campaign manager Chris Joyce said Tolman suspended his work for the company when he became a candidate for attorney general, although the Globe reported that the company only took Tolman’s name off its website this week.

“Warren is proud of the work he’s done as a legislator, an attorney and in diverse roles in the private sector. He’s been a strong advocate for consumers and has a long track record of standing up for progressive values and he plans to bring that experience and those values to the Attorney General’s office,” Joyce said, adding that where online gaming is legal, Tolman believes it should be under the control of tightly regulated state lotteries.

Healey, who is like Tolman a Democrat, opposes not only online gambling, but the expansion of land gambling in the East Coast state in terms of recent changes to state law, which she would like to repeal.

Gambling has been an issue in the attorney general’s race. Her recent comments leave no doubt as to her position on gambling in general:

“I think as a state, we need to think about the kind of practices and entities we invite in to do business in this state and receive the business of the public, and this is an industry that’s built around preying upon people,” Healey said. “It’s an industry built around an economic model where the house always wins.”

Tolman has an opposite view and would oppose any attempts to overturn the new land casino law, which he believes will bring investment and jobs to the state.

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