The push to bring mega-casinos to South Florida faces a host of unknowns: would local voters approve the proposal in a public referendum? Will state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott even allow the issue to get that far?

But another, quite-crucial question also needs to be asked: Will horse and dog tracks just kill the entire thing?

Those often-struggling tracks, along with faded jai-alai frontons, make up Florida’s pari-mutuel industry — a group that holds considerable sway over gambling politics in Florida’s state capital. While international casino congomerates are lobbying heavily for large-scale “destination resorts,” and the highly-successful Seminole Tribe is also working the power corridors of Tallahassee, it is pari-mutuels — the least profitable of the bunch — that usually have the most access to lawmakers’ ears.

“Got their hand out anytime we’re in session,” state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, said of the pari-mutuels. “It’s a committee of greed.”

Nevertheless, Jones, in most instances, is a supporter of pari-mutuels — businesses that trace their Florida roots as far back as the 1930s. It’s that lengthy Florida history, as well as the industry’s tens of thousands of employees, that pari-mutuels say makes them worthy of special protection.

Other gaming interests have certain obstacles when making their pitch to lawmakers, according to Bob Jarvis, a Nova Southeastern University professor who has studied gambling issues. The Seminole Tribe has waged heated court battles against the state, Jarvis said, while destination resort developers such as Malaysia’s Genting Group don’t have deep Florida roots.

“The Johnny-come-latelys are all seen as people from outside the state, who don’t have the best interest of the people of Florida at heart,” Jarvis said.

Pari-mutuels in South Florida range from high-end shopping and dining destinations such as Hallandale Beach’s Gulfstream Park to less-frequented facilities like Miami Jai-alai, which is finishing up a massive renovation that includes the installation of 1,050 slot machines.

Isadore Havenick, vice president of Miami’s Magic City Casino dog track, argues that to not include the pari-mutuels in the current casino debate would “be like having a conversation about grocery stores, and not including Publix.”

Pari-mutuels in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are allowed to offer slots, while tracks in other parts of the state can only run races and offer poker games.

The common theme with almost all pari-mutuels is that what used to be their core business — horses, dogs or jai-alai — is no longer the draw it once was. In the 1940s and 1950s, such races were celebrity-filled, glamorous events. Not anymore.

“The parimutuel pie is not very large, and it’s not growing,” said David Romanik, an attorney who specializes in Florida gaming law.

In recent decades, as business slumped, parimutuel owners boosted their bottom line through effective lobbying. Just about every aspect of their business — operating hours, poker stakes, tax rate — is subject to the whims of the Legislature. Pari-mutuels from the same communities often waged vicious lobbying battles against each other, looking for any competitive advantage they could.