Election Day 2016 not only is crucial for the selection of a president, much of Congress, gubernatorial, state and local races, but gaming is on the ballot in three states, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Arkansas had planned to have a measure to establish casinos at several locations in the state, but the referendum was struck down by the state Supreme Court, which ruled that the wording of the measure was not accurate.
NEW JERSEY
A measure on the ballot that would allow two casinos to be built in northern New Jersey is facing imminent defeat according to most recent polls. A recent Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll found the strongest opposition yet among voters to the referendum. The poll showed 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.
The pubic apparently believes that the lack of specificity of the ballot question is a fatal flaw. As written, the referendum doesn’t cite any locations, any tax rate, any distribution of tax revenue or several other items that voters deem important. An advisory measure passed by the state Assembly early in October also failed to get specific.
The two proponents of the measure, Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands racetrack, and Paul Fireman, founder of Reebok who proposes a $4 billion casino in Jersey City, pulled their financial support for the pro-expansion campaign about a month ago, but opponents are not resting. A total of $24 million was spent on the campaign, the most expensive referendum in New Jersey history. More than $14 million of that was spent by Trenton’s Bad Bet, an anti-expansion PAC formed by casinos from surrounding states.
Opponents anticipate that the measure will return in two years—the statutory limit between considerations of a similar issue—which Gural has confirmed.
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 this 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.
MASSACHUSETTS
Wynn Resorts decided to jump into the battle over Question 1, an initiative that would authorize a second slots parlor in the Bay State. Only one location fits the description in the initiative: land near Suffolk Downs in Revere, just a few miles from Wynn’s casino site.
The voters in Revere have already rejected the proposal by a Thai developer on October 18 in a non-binding vote, but a positive state vote could keep the project alive.
“We assessed the situation and were thinking about getting involved for a while,” Robert DeSalvio, president of Wynn Boston Harbor, said. “What really turned things around for us was the crowd of people who came out to support ‘No on 1’ around the City and the state. Mayor Brian Arrigo came out against it, most of the Revere City Council came out against it, Governor Baker and Speaker DeLeo came out against it and the people of Revere that we spoke to were dead-set against it. There were so many mysteries around the Revere proposal that we felt we needed to help get the facts out.”
Campaign financial records show that Wynn has formed a committee called Revere Can Do Better and contributed $39,000 to it. The company has also spent $23,000 for a political consultant’s database and to pay for automated get out the vote calls.
DeSalvio said, “We are absolutely supporting the ‘No on Question One’ effort statewide and want to be very open and upfront about where our money is coming from,” and added, “It’s coming from Wynn. That’s more than we can say about the investors from Thailand who are very secretive about who is funding their $10 million campaign.”
The Yes on 1 campaign has filed a complaint with the Office of Campaign and Public Finance (OCPF) to investigate several committees that participated in the special election, in Wynn’s Revere Can Do Better. It alleges possible violations of the election code. In a release the campaign said, “The committee is also concerned that public funds may have been expended by the (Revere) Mayor and/or members of his administration in an effort to further mislead the citizens of Revere regarding the 400-room hotel and limited electronic gaming complex that has been proposed in Revere.”
The complaint references a robo-call made by Mayor Brian Arrigo, who called it a “fly-by-night” proposal. At that time, says Arrigo, he didn’t know the identity of those funding Question 1. The committee is requesting all communications, including emails, from the mayor regarding the special election.
The latest polling shows Question 1 failing by a large margin.
RHODE ISLAND
Voters in Rhode Island and the border town of Tiverton will decide Tuesday whether to allow the Twin River Management Group to close its casino in Newport and transfer the license to Tiverton, to compete more directly with casinos in the Bay State.
Twin River Management Group has so far spent more than $2 million on the election. The move has the support of most of the state’s heavyweight politicians and labor unions, which is not a surprise since gaming is the state’s third largest source of revenue. The state also is the highest state in terms of gaming revenue per adult, beating Nevada.
Twin River must not only convince a majority of voters in the state, but also a majority of the 13,000 registered voters in Tiverton itself. The town government will be paid $3 million annually by the casino, which has been designed to look like a town library. The casino would be located 400 feet from the Massachusetts state line and the town of Fall River.
Nevertheless, there are opponents, who worry about altering the area’s community character and social problems caused by gaming. However, the town has a history of favoring casinos, and has voted for two previous state casino initiatives.
A leader of the opposition, the Rev. John Higginbotham of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, told the Associated Press: “The money that is supposedly going to be earned is going to be on the backs of the people who are most vulnerable: the poor from Tiverton and Fall River and New Bedford.” He added, “People will become addicted. There’s nothing in place to take care of these people when they become addicted to casino gambling.”
The opposition would be better funded if they hadn’t rejected money from an anonymous source earlier in the year, fearing that it might have come from another gaming source.
However, someone is paying for “No on 1” signs and literature that have appeared mysteriously, and perhaps illegally since no one has formally registered with the state.
CANNABIS ISSUES
There are four states considering the legalization of recreational use of marijuana—Nevada, Arizona, California and Massachusetts—as well as a measure legalizing medical marijuana in Florida.
The day before the Massachusetts Gaming Commission gave final approval for construction to begin, Wynn wrote a check for $100,000 to Governor Charlie Baker’s anti-marijuana legalization campaign, according to records that was reported by the Boston Herald’s Joe Battenfeld last week.
The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts is aimed at defeating Question 4, which would legalize marijuana for adults. The governor appoints some members of the commission, the Herald noted in its expose.
A spokesman of the Yes on 4 campaign, said the Wynn donation raised questions that the gaming mogul might be attempting to “curry favor” with the governor.
DeSalvio said the donation was made because legalizing pot smoking would make it difficult for the company to enforce its no-drug policy at the casino.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has been active in opposing the pot measures in all the affected states, contributing a total of $4 million to fight the referendums in those states.
