Satre and Jones are part of a group of Clinton supporters called the Nevada Business Leadership Council. Satre said the group's purpose is to act as a sounding board for the candidate on Nevada's business climate.
Clinton aides said the New York senator had long supported communities' efforts to lure new casinos to economically struggling places outside New York City, such as upstate New York and the Catskills.
One proposed casino, to be built in the Catskills by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, was rejected by the federal government earlier this month. That casino would be operated in partnership with Nevada-based Empire Resorts, which lists Clinton on its website as a key supporter. The tribe is appealing the federal rejection, and the decision could be left to the next administration.
In a brief interview Thursday with The Times, Clinton described the gambling industry as an "economic development tool" and said that "for many places in the country, it seems to be an important part of what they are trying to do to revive and maintain an economic base."
Clinton likened the potential social costs of gambling to the costs of other industries that pollute or leave toxic dumps, saying that the impact "depends on how well-regulated it is."
"Any human activity has social costs, really," she said, adding later: "Life is filled with trade-offs, and you have to do the best you can to balance the pluses and the minuses."
Grey, who heads the coalition against legalized gambling and is also a Methodist minister, said Clinton's position conflicted with the church's Social Principles, its statement of values, which Clinton has cited as a personal moral guide.
He pointed to a quote published last month in the Christian Science Monitor in which Clinton said: "For me, the Social Principles of the Methodist Church have been as much a description of our history as a prod to my future actions."
The Social Principles say: "We call on Christians to abstain from gambling and to be in ministry with persons who are the victims of this societal menace," according to a copy posted on the United Methodist Church website.
Grey said: "It's perplexing to me that she would use the principles and choose to omit the one on gambling." The Clinton campaign did not respond to questions about whether Clinton's stance on gambling conflicted with church policy.
