MADISON - Amid another push to allow casinos outside of Atlantic City, the latest results of a FDU Poll show that negative voter sentiment on the issue hasn’t budged in more than a decade.
“People made up their minds about casino expansion a long time ago,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the executive director of the FDU Poll. “Unless something dramatic happens, putting the issue in front of voters is going to lead to the same outcome as it did before.”
Currently, casino gambling in New Jersey is limited to Atlantic City, and changing that would require an amendment to the state constitution. Such amendments have to be passed by the state legislature in consecutive sessions, then approved by voters in a referendum; such a referendum could come to voters as early as November.
Casinos outside of Atlantic City would be located at existing racetracks at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, and would be expected to compete with new casinos being opened in New York.
A previous referendum to expand casino gambling in New Jersey suffered a decisive defeat in 2016, with 77% opposed, and only 23% in favor.
The latest figures are almost identical to responses to the same question fielded by the FDU Poll as far back as 2014. Then, 42% of voters said that they supported casino expansion; in 2016, it was 41%. Today, support has ticked up to 44%, a statistically insignificant change. The percent opposed has stayed remarkably stable, at about 50%.
“The only thing that’s changed since last time this was tried is more casinos opening in New York,” Cassino said. “That matters a lot to the folks who want to open casinos, but it doesn’t seem to matter to the voters.”
Finding a substantial change in voter attitudes on casino expansion requires going back to March 2009. Seventeen years ago, 24% of voters in New Jersey were in favor of casino expansion, with 70% opposed.
As in past years, opposition to casino expansion is highest among older voters: 58% of voters 65 and older say that they oppose openings outside of Atlantic City, with only 38% in favor. Also opposed are the youngest voters, those 30 and under, who are the most likely to make use of betting apps. In that group, 45% are in favor of expansion, with 49% opposed.
“Older voters remember the commitment that casinos were only ever going to be in Atlantic City, and they’re holding the state to those promises,” Cassinosaid.
Within the legislature, opposition to casino expansion has been spearheaded by representatives of the areas around Atlantic City, who have argued that expansion would take away business from the existing casinos. Among voters, opposition to expansion is higher in those counties than in neighboring regions, with 43% approving, and 50% opposing. The highest level of opposition, though, comes from the area surrounding the Meadowlands, where one of the casinos would be located. Only 38% of residents in Bergen and Passaic counties say that they support casino expansion, with 56% opposed.
