Sat Jan 28 2012
by Marc Kovac
Capital Bureau Chief
Columbus -- An anti-gambling group had a clear message for any future casinos thinking about pushing the Ohio electorate to allow a location inside the state's borders: Attempt another ballot issue, and expect a failure comparable to that of Issue 6.
The constitutional amendment, which would have allowed the establishment of a privately owned casino in southwestern Ohio, failed with around 63 percent of the vote against it and 37 percent for it, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State's office.
"We would expect somebody to take another shot," said David Zanotti, head of the Ohio Roundtable, one of the groups active in the Vote No Casinos campaign. "But, again, the industry is deflating, the economy is down on them. And I think this might be the time where it would now reach the point in Ohio where (casino opponents say) we're not even going to have a campaign next time, because we all know we're all just going to go vote no."
It's the fourth time since 1990 that Ohioans have thwarted efforts to bring casino gambling to the state. Zanotti was so sure of the results that he held the anti-casino effort's victory press conference four hours before the polls closed.
"They're reaching the point where they don't have any credibility left in the marketplace," he said.
Zanotti said it has proved difficult for casino proponents to convince voters to amend the constitution to allow their operations in the state.
And he said he didn't think lawmakers could put together an acceptable state-backed proposal, either.
"The problem with that is that we'll be there in the hearing process, reminding every member of the Legislature what in fact the vote count was in the district in regards to casino gambling," he said. "And that gums up the works pretty quickly, because when you're facing a measure that's been rejected statewide four times, in almost every corner of the state, you're sort of lacking the traction of saying we're representing the people on that."
Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com. His Capital Blog can be found online at /.
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