A church leader says Gov. Ted Strickland betrayed fellow Methodists and went back on a campaign promise not to expand gambling when he lent his support to a new lottery game. The Reverend John Edgar, chairman of the United Methodist Anti-Gambling Task Force, says Strickland promised to oppose more gambling in Ohio.
Edgar says the Keno game Strickland is backing as a way to raise state revenue and fill an expected budget hole is a betrayal of that promise. Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister, said through his spokesman that he does not consider his support for Keno, a video game resembling bingo, as a violation of his pledge.