Ohioans approve casinos for 4 cities

Well-financed campaign and message of jobs and money leaving the state appeared to strike chord with voters.

Staff graphic by Ted Pitts Issue 3 results.

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By Laura A. Bischoff, Staff Writers Updated 1:20 PM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

COLUMBUS — Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo are on track to have Las Vegas-style casinos after Ohio voters passed Issue 3, according to statewide returns.

With 91 percent of the precincts statewide counted, Issue 3 led with 53 percent of voters saying yes.

With statewide unemployment at about 10 percent, voters said yes to the promise of 34,000 new jobs, $1 billion in capital investment, and $651 million a year in tax revenues for local governments and school districts.

“Our message from day one has been very simple: jobs and money have been leaving the state. And I think people have seen it and they responded,” said Issue 3 campaign chairman and former Cincinnati mayor Charlie Luken. “And you add on to that the fact that the economy is so bad. I think that people want more jobs in Ohio.”

The outcome is a repudiation of four previous statewide votes since 1990 when voters said no to casino proposals.

“I think more than anything it’s the aspect of the economy, jobs. People have bought into that,” said Tom Smith of the Ohio Council of Churches, which opposed Issue 3. “I think people really believe it’s going to create all these new jobs and I think that more than anything is what changed people’s minds.”

Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert and his partner Penn National Gaming raised more than $35 million for the pro-Issue 3 campaign.

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and the Ohio Council of Churches and Ohio Roundtable opposed casinos mostly on the grounds that it would harm families and increase crime.

On a parallel track, a group called TruthPAC ran a $6 million campaign against Issue 3. Truth PAC was funded by West Virginia-based MRT Gaming which owns casinos in West Virginia and Pennsylvania that stand to lose business when Ohio gets casinos.