This is not good news for New Jersey casino lovers as the number of New Jersey voters opposing a constitutional amendment that would bring casino gambling to the northern part of the state has jumped to 70 percent, according to the latest survey conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Survey.
The survey was conducted to 848 registered New Jersey voters on October 12-16 and had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
This result came with the belief that the state already has enough casinos and adding more casinos to the state would cause harm to the Atlantic City and this is the reason cited by opponents. In addition to this, 12 percent of the people fear congestion and 8 percent believe casinos bring crime while 7 percent said they were unsure where the additional casinos would be located.
Even if the measure is approved these new casinos will be located in separate counties at least 72 miles from Atlantic City.
Kristna Jenkins a political science professor at FDU and the director of PublicMind polling operations said: “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,” “It’s no surprise, then, that backers of the amendment are having a hard time selling the idea to voters.”
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 also said:
“This is an issue that is being closely watched,” “Almost two-thirds of registered voters are following news about the gas tax amendment with some degree of attentiveness. People appear torn between how much pain they want to endure financially in order to offset the pain they feel on our roads and bridges, many of which are in desperate need of repair.”
While a former casino executive and a senior lecturer at FDU’s International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Donald Hoover said:
“Atlantic City has finally seen a benefit from its financial woes,” “The total lack of support for the casino expansion amendment may be due to the vast media coverage in the last several months surrounding a potential state takeover of Atlantic City. The aggressive media campaign against additional casinos in the northern part of the state most likely influenced increased opposition to the amendment.”
With this survey result predicting defeat, New Jersey lawmaker Ralph Caputo has already worked and prepared a Plan B to get slots machines into the state’s racetracks.
