Scott Arceneaux

Secretary of State John McDonough says he was not aware John Willis was on the Marylanders United to Stop Slots steering committee when he consulted with him about writing the language of the November slots referendum.

Voters will decide on November's ballot if the state constitution should be amended to allow no more than 15,000 slots machine installations at five different locations across the state.

McDonough published the text of the November slots referendum on Monday, but has found himself under fire from Marylanders United to Stop Slots – an anti-slot group that says the referendum’s language is biased.

In McDonough’s response to the charges, he mentioned that he had consulted with former Secretary of State John Willis: who is now a professor at the University of Baltimore. According to McDonough, the conversation was about the process involved with writing the referendum’s language. But McDonough was unaware that Willis was a steering committee member of Marylanders United to Stop Slots.

“I never really asked him,” said McDonough in an interview with PolitickerMD.com.

McDonough said “he wouldn’t have cared one way or the other” and believes Willis “gave his advice impartially.”

Marylanders United to Stop Slots Senior Advisor Scott Arceneaux agrees with McDonough. “I don’t think it biases our position either,” said Arceneaux in an interview with PolitickerMD.com.

This is where the agreement over the referendum’s language ends.

As horseracing fans waited to see Big Brown and his competitors in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, the debate over whether the state should legalize the release of 15,000 slot machines could be felt in the stands at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

As the Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday, about 60 proponents of the November ballot referendum passed out 5,000 T-Shirts before the race that expressed support for slots. While the shirts may have been free, they were still nearly gone by noon.

ANNAPOLIS -- State Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) highlighted a series of guests who appeared at a rally this afternoon to speak out against the slots referendum, which will appear on the ballot in November.

Franchot appeared alongside members of the organization Marylanders United to Stop Slots.

Franchot explained his role with the group during an interview with PolitickerMD.com.

"Whatever they want me to do - I'm happy to consider," Franchot said.