New Jersey voters will have the last say on whether the state goes through with plans to build two new casinos close to the New York City market in a public referendum November 8 and a new poll shows the measure is stalling with voters. But it may be a one-sided affair as the group represented by the two leading contenders for North Jersey casinos has shut down its campaign.
A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released last week shows 50 percent of voters oppose the expansion plan—which would allow the first casinos in the state to be built outside of Atlantic City—which represents a 1-point increase from the group’s last survey. The poll found only 40 percent of voters in favor of the plan, a 4-point drop from previous polls.
The referendum will permit the state to approve two new casino projects in the northern part of the state. Though the referendum does not name sites for the casino s, proposals at The Meadowlands Racetrack and Jersey City are considered the most likely to be approved. Both would be built in easy distance from New York City.
However, southern New Jersey interest have opposed the plan, saying it will further devastate Atlantic City’s already shrunken casino market. Proponents say it will bring new jobs to the state and re-capture gaming revenue being lost to casinos in neighboring states.
The two sides have been conducting advertising campaigns focusing mostly in voters in the northern part of the state.
But the group Our Turn NJ—led by former Reebok executive Paul Fireman, who has proposed the Jersey City casino and Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands Racetrack—has decided to pull its advertising in favor of the referendum due to the consistently low support in the polls.
“The data speaks for itself,” said Fireman and Gural in a press statement. “The current political climate in New Jersey and voters’ concerns about the lack of details relating to the effort have proved overwhelming.”
Along with the 50 to 40 split, 3 percent of those polled said they don’t approve of casino gambling anywhere in the state and 7 percent are unsure.
The numbers get even worse for proponents of the plan when voters were asked the question as it will appear on the November ballot. On that question, the poll found 58 percent disapprove of the proposal, while 35 percent approve, and 7 percent are unsure.
“Eagleton has been polling on permitting gambling in other parts of the state since 1979, and New Jerseyans across a number of demographics have never warmed to the idea,” said Ashley Koning, interim director of the Rutgers-Eagleton poll. “If this pattern continues, there is little hope for the ballot amendment passing.”
In another development, Officials from Oceanport New Jersey, home of Monmouth Park racetrack, which could have bid for one of the two licenses, continued to oppose the referendum. The opposition is notable since the new casino plan does include relief for the state’s horseracing industry.
However, like many aspects of the proposal, the specific amount of relief is not spelled out in the referendum. Supporters say details—such as the specific tax rate the casinos would pay—will be sorted out in the enabling legislation if the referendum is approved.
Early estimates say Monmouth Park would receive about $2.5 million a year, which local officials say will not significantly help the struggling track. Oceanport Council president Joe Irace has said that the casinos would be a threat to the horseracing venue of Monmouth. Irace stated that the proposed expansion of casinos is a ‘sweetheart deal for developers’ who want to focus on North Jersey at the expense of the Monmouth County horse racing industry.
Gural and Fireman still touted their proposed projects as beneficial to New Jersey.
“We believe deeply that gaming expansion to Northern New Jersey is a remarkable opportunity that should not be squandered,” the pair said in the statement. “We have committed $4 billion in private investment to this state to create world class resort destinations with gaming. The benefits include 43,000 new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in recaptured revenue—a rare opportunity for New Jersey. In addition, as New York debates allowing gaming in New York City, it is critical that we beat them to market or risk losing this opportunity permanently.”
