{"id":7014,"date":"2014-02-20T16:34:41","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/02\/20\/miami-dade-poll-voters-want-las-vegas-style-casinos\/"},"modified":"2014-02-20T16:34:41","modified_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:34:41","slug":"miami-dade-poll-voters-want-las-vegas-style-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/02\/20\/miami-dade-poll-voters-want-las-vegas-style-casinos\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami-Dade poll: Voters want Las Vegas-style casinos."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBY MARC CAPUTO
\n\tMCAPUTO@MIAMIHERALD.COM<\/a>
\n\tAbout 56 percent of likely Miami-Dade County voters want Las Vegas-style \u201cdestination resorts\u201d casinos, according to a new poll that shows solid support across party lines.<\/p>\n

\tHispanics back the concept the most: 60 percent said they would favor a proposed state constitutional amendment to allow up to three of the proposed casino resorts in South Florida.<\/p>\n

\tThe survey was paid for by unnamed gaming interests. The industry has released similar polls with similar results in prior years, only to see their efforts to expand gambling go bust in the Florida Legislature.<\/p>\n

\tThis year, however, might be different now that state House Republicans \u2014 once a bastion of opposition to expanded gambling \u2014 have shown more of a willingness to talk about the issue.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe story here is that there’s a strong level of enthusiasm among Hispanics, among Cuban Americans and even among Republicans in Miami-Dade for high-end resorts like this,\u201d said Tom Eldon, who conducted the survey of 400 of the county\u2019s likely voters. The survey has an error margin of 4.9 percentage points.<\/p>\n

\tEven if a proposed constitutional amendment made the ballot \u2014 one has been discussed but not drafted \u2014 support doesn\u2019t appear strong enough to pass it statewide. It takes 60 percent of the vote to enact a constitutional amendment.<\/p>\n

\tEldon\u2019s poll showed that a medical marijuana initiative, which will be on the November ballot, garners enough support \u2014 64 percent in Miami-Dade \u2014 but that the gaming initiative falls just short of the supermajority threshold.<\/p>\n

\tUnder Florida law, gambling is limited to seven Indian casinos that offer Las Vegas-style gaming \u2014 except for craps and roulette. Thirty-one pari-mutuel facilities also offer some types of gambling.<\/p>\n

\tEldon\u2019s poll asked respondents whether they would favor an amendment that \u201callowed for the construction of three or less destination resort casinos limited to South Florida counties like Broward or Miami-Dade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe language of the poll indicates that gaming interests \u2014 led by Las Vegas Sands Resorts and Kuala Lumpur-based Genting \u2014 would sell the initiative as a way to halt the spread of gambling while allowing for just a little more of it in communities that want it.<\/p>\n

\tAssuming the amendment passed, local county voters would then probably have a say in a referendum over the addition of the casino resorts.<\/p>\n

\tThe Miami-Dade poll results indicates the measure would pass as a straight-up referendum question, with 56 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed. Support was lowest among Republicans, 54-37 percent, and strongest among Democrats (57-36 percent) and other-party\/independent voters (57-37 percent).<\/p>\n

\tBlack voters showed the least enthusiasm (52-43), followed by non-Hispanic whites (53-37). Hispanic support (60-33 percent) was buoyed by those of Cuban descent, who backed the measure 63-29 percent.<\/p>\n

\tWalt Disney Co. and the Florida Chamber of Commerce oppose the advent of Vegas-style resorts in Florida, saying more gambling weakens the state\u2019s family-first reputation. Native American Indian tribes also don\u2019t want more competition.<\/p>\n

\tIf Las Vegas-style resorts are authorized in the state, the Seminole Tribe of Florida would have the right not to pay Florida upward of $250 million annually under its compact with the state.<\/p>\n

\tEldon\u2019s poll asked respondents whether the Seminoles\u2019 opposition \u2014 designed to keep \u201ctheir highly profitable monopoly on casino gaming in Florida \u2014 would make people more or less likely to support a gaming amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe question made little difference; 36 percent said they would be more likely to favor the proposed amendment, but another 36 percent said it made no difference and 21 percent said they would be less likely to back the proposal.<\/p>\n

\tAsked about the effect of Disney\u2019s opposition on their vote, 31 percent said it would make them more likely to approve the amendment, 43 percent said it made no difference and 22 percent said Disney\u2019s opposition would make them less likely to vote for the amendment.<\/p>\n

\tThe most-effective message: Jobs.<\/p>\n

\tAbout 55 percent said they would be more likely to support the measure if the \u201cthree new casinos would be located only in Southeast Florida and would create thousands of new jobs while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue to the state by attracting tourists from all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOnly 19 percent said it would make no difference and 22 percent said the jobs message would make them less likely to support the measure.<\/p>\n

\tVoters were also asked which message was closer to their thinking: 1) that the casinos would create \u201cthousands of jobs . . . and help improve South Florida\u2019s economy\u201d or 2) that Florida has enough gambling and any more \u201cwould hurt our society and economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFifty-seven percent sided with the jobs message; 37 percent favored the second message.<\/p>\n

\tWhen asked about the intensity of their support, 68 percent said they particularly liked the idea of a Florida State Gaming Commission to oversee and police the industry. Asked whether future Las Vegas-style casino facilities should be approved only by a statewide vote, 66 percent said they supported or strongly supported the concept.<\/p>\n

\tAbout 65 percent said they supported or strongly supported allowing the proposed casinos in Broward and Miami-Dade if they included \u201chotels, shopping, celebrity chef restaurants, and headliner shows and convention facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd 59 percent said they favored full Vegas-style gaming operations, including slot machines, at existing jai-alai facilities and horse and dog tracks.<\/p>\n

\tAfter being asked the battery of questions, voters were relatively unmoved, and backed the proposed constitutional amendment by the same margin, 19 percentage points.<\/p>\n

\tThe poll did indicate voting for the gambling could be a plus for lawmakers, with 39 percent saying a legislator\u2019s support made them more likely to favor the politician; 27 percent said it made their support less likely and 20 percent said it made no difference.<\/p>\n

\tDespite the rosy numbers, though, gambling opponents and supporters know that different polls asked in different ways yield different results.<\/p>\n

\tMeantime, the industry\u2019s biggest enemy is sometimes itself in the Florida Legislature. All the special interests line up to get a piece of the action, and often make gambling legislation die of its own weight.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cGambling legislation announcements quickly lead to circular firing squads,\u201d said John Sowinski, leader of the Orlando-based No Casinos group.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBut we have to remain vigilant,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause anything is possible and the other side will spare no expense to try and have their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRead more here: http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/2014\/02\/19\/v … rylink=cpy<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

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BY MARC CAPUTO MCAPUTO@MIAMIHERALD.COM About 56 percent of likely Miami-Dade County voters want Las Vegas-style \u201cdestination resorts\u201d casinos, according to a new poll that shows solid support across party lines. Hispanics back the concept the most: 60 percent said they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}