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Gov. Matt Bevin points to suicides as reason to oppose gambling

Bevin said 'families are ruined' due to gambling during a radio interview, offering no evidence.
Credit: AP
Kentucky Governor and republican candidate for governor Matt Bevin speaks to the media following the Kentucky Farm Bureau candidates forum at the Kentucky Farm Bureau headquarters in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Matt Bevin says suicides are part of the societal costs related to casino gambling, as he lashed out at his opponent's support for expanded gambling as a way to help fund pensions.

Bevin said "families are ruined" due to gambling in a radio interview on WKDZ Wednesday, providing no evidence.

"Every night somewhere in America, somebody takes their life in a casino because they've wasted the last semblance of dignity and hope that they had," Bevin said in a radio interview Wednesday.

His opponent  Andy Beshear said he wants to push for expanded gambling as a revenue resource to support chronically underfunded public pension systems.

Bevin says the revenue generated would not come close to fixing the state's pension woes and says there's "no political appetite" for expanded gambling in Kentucky.

RELATED: Bevin: I don’t need to clarify my gaming and suicide comments

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