COLUMBUS —The team pushing to bring four full-fledged casinos to the Buckeye state reads like a page from Who’s Who in Ohio Politics: former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken is leading the campaign, former Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett is drumming up Republican support, and former state Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas has been hired to shore up backing in northwest Ohio.

Behind them is a well-equipped team of veteran spin doctors, ad makers, and campaign strategists: Mary Anne Sharkey, former communications director for ex-Gov. Bob Taft; Bob Tenenbaum, former press secretary for ex-Gov. John Gilligan; Tom Whatman and Rex Elsass, former Ohio GOP directors; Dennis Eckart, a former Congressman and Cleveland area Democrat; and Ron Malone, a long time public employees labor organizer.

On the other side is another long-list of well-known Ohio politicians and strategists: U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, Parma Mayor Dean DiPiero, state Sen. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo; state Rep. Lou Blessing, R-Cincinnati; Ohio Roundtable President David Zanotti, and Ohio Council of Retail Merchants President John Mahaney Jr.

Sandy Theis, a former Dayton Daily News reporter and Plain Dealer Columbus bureau chief, is the mouthpiece for TruthPAC, which is among the groups fighting Issue 3, the constitutional amendment that would permit a casino in Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Not only are there big names involved in Issue 3, there is big money. The ballot issue is backed by Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert and Penn National Gaming, which owns the Toledo Raceway and Hollywood casino in Indiana.

Last year, Penn National contributed nearly all of the more than $38 million spent to defeat a proposed casino near Wilmington. That casino would have competed with Penn National’s casino in southern Indiana. This time around, MTR Gaming is opposing the casino issue, which would compete with their racinos in Erie, Penn and Chester, W.V.

MTR also owns Scioto Downs just south of Columbus, one of seven Ohio racetracks slated to get 2,500 slot machines beginning in May 2010. The racetracks would compete with the casinos for gambling customers if Issue 3 passes. MTR has its own connected team: Kim Redfern, wife of Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern, is MTR’s lobbyist in Columbus and Jeff Jacobs, a heavy-hitter developer and investor in Cleveland, is MTR’s chairman.