Locals Don’t Want Casino Gaming to Expand in New Jersey
According to a Fairleigh Dickinson University survey, residents of New Jersey have opposed the expansion of casinos within the state beyond their current Atlantic City home.
As this latest survey shows, through the past decade public opinion across the state hasn’t changed much despite that in the US there are significant changes connected with casinos.
Professor of Government and Politics at FDU Dan Cassino, who is also Executive Director of the survey, noted that competition from new casinos opening soon in New York city and the endless search for new sources of revenue meant that there’s a lot of pressure to open new casinos in Jersey but if the state wanted those casinos, they would be going to change a lot of minds.
An expansion of casino gambling was opposed by a slight majority of 51 percent of locals while 37 percent of residents voted in favor of the expansion. Note that any expansion would require a vote on a constitutional amendment in the state, and in 2016 such an amendment failed by 77 percent to 23 percent.
According to the FDU, “opposition to casino expansion may be one of the few remaining bipartisan issues in the state” given the resistance from Democrats, independents and Republicans of 50, 53 and 54 percent respectively.
801 respondents were involved in the latest survey, which was in a similar fashion to past examinations. In 2014 the opposition was 50 percent against 42 percent of support and two years later the figures were 50 percent and 37 percent.
Dan Cassino said that views of casino expansion in New Jersey had been crystallized for years, none of the arguments that had been made in favor of expansion had made any dent.
In other news, WarHorse Gaming receives a license for its casino in Omaha, Nebraska.
