Hopes for the building of two new casinos in northern New Jersey seem dimmer than ever as a new poll finds seven out of ten registered voters in the state are against the plan.
Voters will be asked to approve a referendum changing the state constitution to allow two new casinos—the first approved outside of Atlantic City—on November 8.
But a Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll released last week found the strongest opposition yet among voters to the referendum. The poll found 70 percent of registered voters questioned oppose expanding casinos, while only 24 percent support the plan.
“This is an issue we’ve been polling on for years, and there has never been broad and deep support for allowing casinos to expand beyond Atlantic City,” said Krista Jenkins, professor of political science and director of PublicMind.
Thirty-six percent of those polled said they believe the state already has enough casinos.
“When over a third of registered voters believe their casino fix is amply satisfied by what’s already here, and worry that more will do to other communities what casinos did to Atlantic City, the ‘more is better’ argument is a tough sell,” Jenkins said.
The phone survey of 848 registered voters has a sampling effort of 3.6 percentage points.
Polls have been showing that the measure is likely to be defeated for months, and proponents for the measure pulled their advertising in support of the plan weeks ago.
However, a real estate group in Newark appears to still be holding out hope for the measure.
The Berger Organization, which owns land in Newark, announced a proposal to build a casino as part of a multi-use development near the city’s Broad Street New Jersey Transit station that would also include a convention center and several parking facilities. The group said it has been in talks with several casino companies, but has not reached any agreements.
“Newark being the largest city in the state and as well-located as it is, should certainly be one of the locations for a casino when the election is decided,” Miles Berger, the group’s company chairman told Fox Business. “It would be a tremendous boost to the city and certainly a major boost to the neighborhood”
The referendum does not specifically name the site for the two casinos, but throughout the process proposals for casinos at The Meadowlands Racetrack and Jersey City have been considered the strongest contenders.
Berger acknowledged that the referendum has little chance of passing, however, and said the proposal was made looking ahead at future efforts to approve new casinos.
“It was moving pretty quickly several months ago, but the outlook does not look bright right now,” he said. “There is no rush here; this could give us a two-year window before it could come back on as a referendum.”
If the referendum is defeated, it cannot be reintroduced for at least two years and several proponents of casinos—notably Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands Racetrack who has proposed a casino at the track—have said they intend to work to bring a new referendum before voters in 2018.
That fact has not been lost on opponents of the plan. Joe Kelly, president of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce told the Press of Atlantic City that the group plans to start working on opposing alternate plans for casino expansion almost immediately after Election Day.
“We’ve been fighting that issue for well over 10 years,” Kelly said. “And as soon as we finish this fight, we’re going to be preparing for the next two years. I hope at some point that the economics of an oversaturated regional casino market … that argument will win the day.”
Southern New Jersey officials have opposed the expansion saying it will devastate Atlantic City’s already struggling casino market and lead to more casino closings in the resort.
Ant-referendum forces held a rally against the plan last week on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian urged hundreds of casino workers at the rally to make sure the referendum is soundly defeated, according to the Associated Press.
“What we’re talking about is protecting 20,000 families who have someone who works in casino, and another 20,000 families who have someone who sells products or services to the casino industry,” he said.
