A record amount of campaign funding has been raised for and against Issue 2, the Arkansas ballot initiative that will decide the fate of the Pope County casino license. Contributions have so far surpassed $30 million.
According to the Arkansas Ethics Commission, $17.6 million of that has come from Local Voters in Charge. That coalition is led and funded by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Two opposing groups—Investing in Arkansas and the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee—have contributed $12.5 million and $776,575, respectively.
Unlike most gambling-related ballot measures, Issue 2 seeks to rescind a license that was already awarded. It would also stipulate that any future expansion be approved by voters. Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) was awarded the casino license in question June 27 by the Arkansas Racing Commission. The tribe seeks to build its $300 million Legends Resort & Casino about 75 miles northwest of Little Rock. Its opponent is the Choctaws, which operates casinos along the Oklahoma-Arkansas border.
The amount of money spent on Issue 2 relative to other campaigns is striking. In 2022, the Arkansas Advocate presented a graph of the six most expensive initiative campaigns in state history to that point. At that time, the most expensive was a recreational marijuana initiative from that year that generated $12.4 million. Second place was the $9.7 million effort to legalize casinos in 2018 that indirectly spawned Issue 2. The Pope County license battle has easily trumped both totals combined.
