Ohioans to Decide Whether to Join States That Permit Casino Gambling

From: Fox News | October 27, 2009

Ohioans have voted down ballot propositions trying to bring casinos to the Buckeye State four times, but supporters are hoping next week’s vote will mean the fifth time’s a charm.

Former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken is part of a coalition in favor of altering Ohio’s constitution to make way for four casinos in the state’s four largest cities — Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.

“It’s about time for Ohio to get in this game,” Luken said.

Among the pro-casino forces are the mayors of all four cities, a robust list of labor unions, most notably Ohio’s biggest police union.

“We’ve seen here in Ohio double-digit unemployment. We’ve seen cuts at the state level and it has gotten so bad that they’ve had to cut the safety needs of the community,” said Ohio Fraternal Order of Police Secretary/Treasurer Mark Drum.

The recession and a 10 percent unemployment rate have hit Ohio hard. And in its ads. pro-casino forces have trumpeted gaming will bring 34,000 new jobs to the state.

That pledge may explain a recent Institute for Policy Research poll suggesting registered Ohio voters favor the casinos by a double-digit percentage point margin.

Not a fan of the notion is Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

“It’s a bad deal for this reason — these casinos will be paying $50 million per license. For a casino,” he said.

Many states get six to 10 times that sum.

Ohio’s casino opponents have also been hammering away at the casino-backers.

“The people of Ohio have a right to know who is making a profit off of their constitution,” said Brian Rothenberg, executive director of Progress Ohio, a liberal advocacy group.

Dan Gilbert, the principal owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team would wind up with the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos if voters approve gaming. Gilbert’s businesses and the other potential Ohio casino owners, Penn Ventures, have ponied up more than $31 million on promoting the bill, including on phone calls to an estimated 3 million Ohio voters.

The opposition has spent just $6 million.

Both sides say the final vote will be close, which is closer to casino gaming than Ohio’s been before.

Fox News’ Steve Brown contributed to this report.