Boston Globe – Anti-casino political campaigns across the state during the past year have eroded public support for casino gambling in Massachusetts, a potentially dangerous turn for the industry ahead of a possible campaign this fall to repeal the state casino law, political and casino specialists said Wednesday.
Forty-six percent of likely voters approve of locating casinos in Massachusetts, while 43 percent disapprove, according to a new WBUR survey conducted by MassINC Polling Group. The poll, released Wednesday, shows a significant drop in support for the gambling industry in just the past two months.
In a January survey, MassINC found that 53 percent of registered voters approved of casinos in the state, while 39 percent disapproved. Other statewide surveys dating to at least 2009 showed much stronger support for the industry, with generally 60 percent or more in favor of casinos.
Support may also have fallen because of high-profile defeats for the industry in municipal referendums and publicity stemming from lawsuits on the licensing process, as well as the lack of tangible benefits so far from the state’s fledgling casino industry.
“People are tired of hearing about it and not seeing it,” said Carl Jenkins, managing director at the financial firm Duff & Phelps, who has studied the state’s gambling market.
The polling trend suggests that a proposed repeal of the state casino law may have a real chance of passing, if it qualifies for the November ballot. Casino opponents have asked the Supreme Judicial Court to overrule the state attorney general’s decision that it was unconstitutional and should be kept off the ballot. The court is expected to decide this summer. Casino supporters, including several gambling companies that want to build in Massachusetts, are opposing the repeal.
John Ribeiro, chairman of the casino repeal effort, said in a statement Wednesday that the drop in support suggests “Massachusetts voters are intelligent, and when presented with the data and facts that casinos do not bring the economic revitalization that they falsely promise, voters stand against the casino culture.”
