On So-Called “Skill Games,” the Rule of Law Must Prevail Over Campaign Cash

by Peter Appel

2024 has made it clearer than ever: the Democratic Party is the party of the rule of law. We Democrats might not always agree with our lawmakers’ decisions, but we respect the democratic process. We call out corruption and pay-for-play politics, no matter whether it is from Donald Trump or from Bob Menendez.

So, as a Democrat, it is scary to watch what is playing out in Virginia with slot machines, preposterously referred to by their corporate proponents as “skill games.” By turning a blind eye to illegal “skill games”, Virginia Democrats face a dire risk of ceding the high ground on the rule of law to the Republican Party. Good Democrats need to speak up — because if we lose this high ground, it will be hard to recapture it.

A few years ago, these machines started to spread like weeds through convenience stores and gas stations across some of the most economically struggling areas of Virginia. The corporations making huge profits on the backs of some of our lowest income citizens have contributed massively to elected leaders in our General Assembly of both parties to preserve this corporate cash cow.

These corporate interests have failed to achieve their goals through the legislative process or the judicial system. In a 2023 decision, the Virginia Supreme Court declared “skill games” to be illegal. Earlier this year, legislators backed by “skill game” corporate interests tried and failed to enact a law legalizing them. Yet many of these machines remain in operation.

After failing multiple times in both the courts and the legislature, the largest provider of this equipment — Pace-o-Matic — has come up with a cynical attempt at a workaround. They have modified their machine so instead of the user putting money in the machine, the cashier at the convenience store puts the currency into a receptacle. Their premise is laughable on its face — the law defining these “skill games” as requiring the “insertion of a coin, currency, ticket, token, or similar object to operate, activate, or play a game” doesn’t differentiate whether the person doing the inserting is a player or a cashier. These machines are illegal either way.

After making this modification, Pace-o-Matic promptly rolled out two people who had been on their payroll — both former Virginia Attorneys General — to assert that they were now compliant with the law. Fortunately, the actual sitting Attorney General, Jason Miyares, had his team do an objective analysis and made the determination that these machines are indeed still illegal.

I am as surprised as anyone that I fully agree with a legal determination on a controversial topic emanating from AG Miyares’ office. But I read every word of his 5-page finding and it is clearly based on incontrovertible facts — and I encourage everyone who cares about the rule of law to read it as well. When we seek to preserve the rule of law, facts beat politics every day of the week.

We Democrats may disagree with AG Miyares on many things. But if leaders dismiss his findings when the facts are so overwhelmingly on his side, it undermines our stewardship of the rule of law.

So I urge my fellow Democrats — please pay attention to your elected leaders. If they have in the past used legitimate public policy channels to try to advance regulated “skill games,” find out whether they are now comfortable with illegal activity that contributes to the impoverishment of our citizens. Understand the tremendous pressure other legislators are under when their leaders in the General Assembly take huge contributions from “skill games” interests and when powerful Pace-o-Matic lobbyists are pushing hard to keep these illegal machines in operation.

Look at legislators — even those who legitimately accepted past contributions from Pace-o-Matic — who have the guts to stand up for the rule of law today. We can all hope that more Democrats show this kind of courage — our foundation as the party of the rule of law depends on it.