Massachusetts strongly supports the authorization of three resort casinos in the state, despite the inability of Gov. Deval Patrick and the
The poll conducted by UMass Dartmouth's Center for Policy Analysis found that 55 percent of the respondents support the plan for three destination resort casinos with 23 percent opposed and 22 percent undecided.
The proposed legislation, which was rejected by the governor last year, called for resort casinos to be located in Southeastern Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston.
The phone poll, with a margin of error of 2.8 percent, sampled Massachusetts residents across the state, according to Clyde W. Barrow, the director of the Center for Policy Analysis and poll supervisor.
Barrow said in an interview on Sunday that the poll shows public support for casino gambling remains strong and reflects a 10 percent swing of people who were formerly opposed to gaming to now being undecided on the issue.
He said public support for gambling hasn't changed in the five years the UMass Dartmouth center has done the study, explaining it has consistently been in the mid- to high-50s percent range.
He said the shift from opposed to undecided is probably due to "the length and depth of the recession."
The poll follows last summer's failed effort to permit casino gambling in the state.
Patrick refused to sign a bill passed by the Legislature for three resort casinos and slot parlors at two of the state's four racetracks. Under the Legislature's plan, the slot parlors would be bid on by the track owners. The governor contended that the contracts should be open to all qualified bidders, saying that under the bill, it was effectively a no-bid process.
Elizabeth Isherwood, a local spokeswoman for the Foundation Gaming Group of Gulfport, Miss., a transition group that is looking for a developer for the former Revere Copper and Brass site in the Hicks-Logan section of New Bedford, said the poll is good news, but she isn't surprised by its results.
"The New Bedford community has always been in favor of a destination resort casino, so I don't think anything has changed," she said in an interview Sunday.
"That is because they recognize it as a good job opportunity for the community."
Mayor Scott W. Lang, informed of the poll results Sunday night, said he doesn't think the issue with people is about gambling anymore.
He said it is about creating jobs, doing it in an appropriate manner and ensuring there is a revenue stream for the host community and cities and towns across the state.
He said the poll shows that, increasingly, people have an open mind with regards to a properly executed resort casino.
"I think that's a good sign," he said. "It has to be tightly regulated."
Lang added he hopes the Legislature takes up the issue of casino gambling early in the session, so it and the governor can work through the issues.
Andrew M. Paven, a spokesman for KG Urban Enterprises of New York, N.Y., which is interested in developing a resort casino on the so-called NStar property, declined to comment.
Barrow said one of the significant findings of the survey is that a majority of those residents who have not gambled at a casino in the past year now support the licensing of three casinos.
Among respondents who have gambled at a casino during the past 12 months, Barrow said 81 percent of them support licensing three casinos. He said only 8 percent in this group are opposed and 11 percent undecided.
Among residents who have neither gambled at nor visited a casino during the past 12 months, he said 57 percent support the idea of three casinos, 23 percent are opposed and 20 percent are undecided.
The idea of three resort casinos also won 50 percent or more support among people who identified themselves as liberals (57 percent); moderates (58 percent); and conservatives (50 percent); Democrats (63 percent); Republicans (51 percent); and independents (53 percent).
"When a majority of those who do not gamble support destination resort casinos by a two-to-one margin, the debate is over in Massachusetts," Barrow said in the report.
"They've made up their minds. They support and want destination resort casinos for the jobs, tax revenue and tourism growth they believe will emerge from world-class destination resorts," he said. "At this point, there is not a single demographic group in Massachusetts, whether defined by age, sex, education, income, party identification or ideological orientation, where a majority opposes casino gaming in Massachusetts."
He said the poll also asked a question about the ongoing negotiations between the governor and House Speaker Robert DeLeo to locate slot machines at two of the state's race tracks.
The poll found that 48 percent supported the Legislature's plan to authorize three resort casinos and to allow a limited number of slot machines of two of the state's race tracks.
Barrow said 27 percent were opposed and 25 percent were undecided.
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