A closer look at racino applicants
Here are snapshots of the three groups that have announced plans to submit applications for the new racing license:
Coronado Partners
The limited liability company has been reshaped since it first applied in 2008 for a track in Tucumcari.
Its managing member is Tom Krumland, owner of six auto dealerships in Roswell and Carlsbad, according to Logan attorney Warren Frost.
Krumland, his wife and his auto group have been major political donors to Gov. Susana Martinez.
A veterans group criticized Krumland in 2006 after he requested and received a New Mexico National Guard jet flyover to mark the opening of one of his Roswell dealerships.
Krumland apologized for the flyover, which was arranged by a state legislator who had received large campaign contributions from the car dealer.
In addition to Frost, other members of Coronado Partners include former Las Vegas, Nev., gaming executive Lawrence “Larry” Tombari and Dianne Chalmers, widow of Albuquerque car dealer Don Chalmers.
Frost, Tombari and Chalmers also have been political contributors to Martinez.
Don Chalmers, who died in 2014, was an organizer of Coronado Partners.
L&M Entertainment
Laguna Development Corp., owned by Laguna Pueblo, announced in May that it and Miller Cos. of Hinsdale, Ill., had formed L&M Entertainment to submit a proposal for a track in Curry County.
The racino would be located on the edge of Clovis, according to Skip Sayre, chief of marketing for Laguna Development.
Laguna Development first developed a proposal for a Curry County track in 2015. The company operates the pueblo’s casinos just off Interstate 40, as well as other tribal businesses.
Rob Miller is founder and CEO of Miller Cos., which is a holding company for businesses owned by Miller. The company provides financing for gaming ventures.
Miller and his wife were major donors to Martinez’s reelection campaign in 2014. Miller also contributed $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2016 while Martinez was its chairwoman, according to political donation data compiled by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics.
Laguna Development also has made campaign contributions to Martinez.
Assisting L&M Entertainment are Albuquerque attorney and lobbyist Pat Rogers, a former Republican national committeeman, and former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, also a Republican.
Political blogger Joe Monahan first reported the involvement of Rogers and White.
Fulton family
The family of the late Stan Fulton, which owns Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino, announced last month that it would seek the sixth racing license. It later said it would propose to locate the track in Clovis.
Rick Baugh, general manager of Sunland Park, says the family worked with a Las Vegas, Nev., company to identify the best location in New Mexico for a new racino.
Under the Fulton family proposal, only quarterhorses would race at the new track and Sunland Park would be limited to thoroughbreds, Baugh says.
Stan Fulton was the founder of Anchor Gaming, a major U.S. gaming company. He resigned from the company in 2000, receiving an estimated $240 million and ownership of Sunland Park from Anchor.
He and the track were major political donors to Martinez. Fulton also gave heavily to New Mexico State University.
Fulton died in January.