Despite being promised thousands of new entertainment-sector jobs and millions of dollars for schools, Oregonians apparently aren’t ready to legalize private casinos in the state, including an immediate plan for a casino called The Grange in the Portland area.
Backers of ballot measures 82 and 83 announced Tuesday that they were suspending their campaign in support of the casinos.
“It appears to the campaign team that not enough Oregon voters are ready to add a private casino to the state’s gaming options,” read the statement the group issued.
Campaign manager Stacey Dycus said: “Sorry. (I) can’t give any comments beyond the statement.”
Questions left dangling: What prompted the two Canadian gaming companies to quit now, three weeks before the election? Did private polling convince them that the measures were a lost cause?
If so, why did they keep plowing money into the effort this month? And would the companies build the Portland casino if voters surprised them and approved the ballot measures?
The backers spent more than $5 million on television commercials and brochures before calling it quits.
The companies are gaming investors Clairvest of Toronto and Great Canadian Gaming Corp. of British Columbia, plus a pair of Lake Oswego businessmen.
The developers faced growing resistance in recent weeks as Gov. John Kitzhaber and former governors Ted Kulongoski, Barbara Roberts and Vic Atiyeh all came out against their plans.
In a rare election-season agreement, the Oregon Republican Party and the Democratic Party of Oregon both came out in opposition to the ballot measures.
A public poll in September by KATU News in Portland found only 27 percent of statewide voters in support of Measure 82. Forty-three percent were opposed, and 31 percent hadn’t made up their minds.
The odds seemed worse than in the 2010 general election, in which Oregon voters trounced a similar proposal, 68 percent to 32 percent.
Cynara Lilly, a spokeswoman for the Still a Bad Idea committee, said that the measures’ backers probably got polling results in recent days that indicated the election was a lost cause.
“Voters weren’t really buying what they were selling,” said Lilly, whose campaign was funded largely by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, who stood to lose customers to the Portland-area casino the businesses wanted to build.
Lilly said opponents have no plans to suspend their campaign now.
“The issue is still on the ballot. What’s at stake is very, very real,” she said. “None of us feel like the conversation is over.”
Opponents say legalizing casinos would decimate Oregon tribes, which receive profits from their nine casinos in the state. Plus, opponents said a private gaming venue would increase crime and addictive behavior and benefit corporate interests rather than the public.
The proponents, meanwhile, said they knew they faced an uphill struggle to convince voters their plan would benefit the public.
“We knew when we began this process that it would be a challenge to break the existing political and gaming monopoly in Oregon,” the statement said.
“We continue to strongly believe a taxpaying casino would benefit Oregon’s economy and schools, which are both in great need. We would all be honored to be partners in an entertainment destination and casino that showcased the best that Oregon has to offer. ...
“We believe we have made a positive, compelling case for a casino and entertainment center that truly would be fun for you and good for Oregon. Over the next three weeks, we urge everyone to carefully review the Voters’ Pamphlet, our website and campaign materials from both sides of the campaign and make up their own minds,” the now-shuttered campaign said.
82/83 websites:
Proponents: www.thegrangeoregon.com
Opponents: stillbadfororegon.org
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