Abraham making fundraising stop at MGM

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., is set to attend a fundraising event at the MGM Grand hotel-casino Feb. 25.

The fundraiser, to be held at the MGM Grand Mansion, will charge $1,000 per person. Hosts include Alex Yemenidjian, chairman and chief executive of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., and Las Vegas Republican political adviser Sig Rogich. Gov. Kenny Guinn is also expected to attend.

Abraham, first elected to the Senate in 1994, is running for re-election in 2000. He is chairman of the Senate subcommittees on immigration and manufacturing.

Joe Davis, a spokesman for the senator, said Abraham is friends with both Yemenidjian and Rogich. Abraham became acquainted with Rogich in the Bush White House, where Abraham served as deputy chief of staff to former Vice President Dan Quayle. Yemenidjian has hosted several fundraisers for Abraham in the past, Davis said.

"We haven't taken any positions on gambling," Davis said. "This is more of an event hosted by friends of the senator."

But Abraham has become an important official to the gaming industry in the wake of three new casinos opening in Detroit, one of the industry's top Washington lobbyists said.

"I've never heard him say a word pro or con about gaming," said Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association. "But clearly, now that he has a number of our companies in his state, he's a very important senator for us."