AUGUSTA – Opponents of slot machines in Maine have turned to former Gov. Angus King in search of leadership after correctly concluding that Gov. John Baldacci had no interest in repealing existing laws allowing limited casino gambling in the state.

Fred Kilfoil of the Scarborough-based political action committee No Slots for Me said Friday King’s high-profile public personae should assist in getting the message out that slot machines will only erode the state’s struggling economy. Kilfoil said King approached the anti-slots group to offer his support and joins a growing list of prominent individuals and groups who are getting involved in the issue.

The Maine Christian Civic League and the Maine Grassroots Coalition recently joined forces with No Slots to help gather the remaining signatures necessary to put the anti-slots question on the 2006 ballot. The unusual alliance has also received additional support from another one of Maine’s foremost organizers, Jonathan Carter, a former Green Independent Party gubernatorial candidate and conservation activist.

The invigorated effort to outlaw slot machines in Maine comes at a time when interviews are being conducted to recruit employees to work at the Bangor racino in the building that once housed Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street. Efforts are also under way to put a referendum question on the ballot allowing the Passamaquoddy Tribe to run slots at a location within Washington County.

“It’s obvious that this plague will not be confined to Bangor very long,” King said in a prepared statement. “The Legislature came within one vote of approving [over the governor’s veto] another slots project last spring – and once that happens, we’ll soon have slots all over Maine, which has been the pattern in other states that have started down this road.”

King’s re-entry into a major state policy debate seemed to highlight divisions between Baldacci and the former governor that stretch back to King’s last months in office. A popular and articulate independent who frequently sided with Democrats, King was courted by the Baldacci campaign for an endorsement that never came.

When Baldacci heard Friday about King’s decision to weigh in on the anti-slots initiative, he chose not to comment directly about the former governor’s activities.

Baldacci himself campaigned against the statewide referendum that legalized slot machine gaming in Bangor. He also promised to veto a bill passed during the most recent session of the Legislature that would allow tribal slots in Washington County.

Despite his personal belief that slot machine gaming is not true economic development, however, Baldacci said the people had spoken on the issue and that he had to respect that decision.

“Right now, my role is to ensure that we finish the work of the previous referendum where the people voted for [Bangor slots] to happen,” he said. “So it’s my responsibility to make sure that that comes to fruition.”

In an obvious reference to King, Baldacci said, “I don’t have the luxury of standing outside and being able to do whatever it is that I would like to do.”

But King questioned whether the scope of the facility envisioned in Bangor was actually what was intended under the law.

“The Bangor project is a perfect example of the gambling industry’s bait and switch tactics,” King said. “The people voted to allow a ‘limited number of slots’ to support the Bangor Historic Raceway and the horsemen. And yet, now we find that we’re looking at 1,500 slots in Bangor and the first phase isn’t even at the track – it’s at Miller’s Restaurant – where you can’t even see the raceway or smell a horse. I think Maine people should have the opportunity to say once and for all whether we want to be a slots state, and this referendum proposal will give them that chance.”