1974 and 1976 NJ Gambling Referenda

[kwabbit]

I was reading about a casino in NJ and saw there two referenda on gambling in NJ, but there were no maps of either. Being an electionologist, I decided to produce them in ArcGIS. I'm not sure if this is the right board, but enjoy!

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

hm, is there any specific reason why Hudson county voted yes on both?

[kwabbit]

hm, is there any specific reason why Hudson county voted yes on both?

I found that curious too. I think outside of Atlantic County voting yes for obvious the reasons, the other counties are best seen through how high the no% percentage was. Perhaps the suburban/rural counties were more moralistic and therefore opposed gambling on grounds that it was seedy, but urban people had less qualms with it so the no% was closer. Essex with Newark was 45% yes in the first referendum, and Passaic with Paterson and Camden were also relatively high.

Maybe the Northwest counties were so opposed because they were further from Atlantic city and thus the casinos opening were of less benefit to them? I'm not sure but there's a similar pattern in both maps, but when it was restricted to just Atlantic City the Northwest counties swung less.

[Mr. Matt]

The Hudson yes and the Essex slight no were probably because the cities thought they could have gotten a casino built in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, etc. to help them out. A Newark casino was a pet project of then Republican Assemblyman Ralph Caputo in the 1960s (who got primaried in 1971 and came back as a Democrat 35 years later).

When discussing gambling referenda, there was also the stupid 2016 referendum that could allow casinos to be built no less than 72 miles from Atlantic City. Coincidentally, Freehold Raceway and Monmouth Park just happen to barely be within that totally uncalculated radius.

The measure failed spectacularly throughout the whole state, almost a reverse of the pot question last year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_New_Jersey_casino_expansion_amendment

[Tintrlvr]

hm, is there any specific reason why Hudson county voted yes on both?

I found that curious too. I think outside of Atlantic County voting yes for obvious the reasons, the other counties are best seen through how high the no% percentage was. Perhaps the suburban/rural counties were more moralistic and therefore opposed gambling on grounds that it was seedy, but urban people had less qualms with it so the no% was closer. Essex with Newark was 45% yes in the first referendum, and Passaic with Paterson and Camden were also relatively high.

Maybe the Northwest counties were so opposed because they were further from Atlantic city and thus the casinos opening were of less benefit to them? I'm not sure but there's a similar pattern in both maps, but when it was restricted to just Atlantic City the Northwest counties swung less.

Especially in the 70s, I think the urban-suburban divide over whether gambling was immoral would have been the main explanation. That also explains why the suburban counties were still much less in favor of legalization only in Atlantic City than the suburban counties, even though doing so would have zero impact on quality of life in, say, Bergen or Morris County.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

The Hudson yes and the Essex slight no were probably because the cities thought they could have gotten a casino built in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, etc. to help them out. A Newark casino was a pet project of then Republican Assemblyman Ralph Caputo in the 1960s (who got primaried in 1971 and came back as a Democrat 35 years later).

When discussing gambling referenda, there was also the stupid 2016 referendum that could allow casinos to be built no less than 72 miles from Atlantic City. Coincidentally, Freehold Raceway and Monmouth Park just happen to barely be within that totally uncalculated radius.

The measure failed spectacularly throughout the whole state, almost a reverse of the pot question last year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_New_Jersey_casino_expansion_amendment

who even supported that other than a couple multi-millionaire developers?

[kwabbit]

The Hudson yes and the Essex slight no were probably because the cities thought they could have gotten a casino built in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, etc. to help them out. A Newark casino was a pet project of then Republican Assemblyman Ralph Caputo in the 1960s (who got primaried in 1971 and came back as a Democrat 35 years later).

When discussing gambling referenda, there was also the stupid 2016 referendum that could allow casinos to be built no less than 72 miles from Atlantic City. Coincidentally, Freehold Raceway and Monmouth Park just happen to barely be within that totally uncalculated radius.

The measure failed spectacularly throughout the whole state, almost a reverse of the pot question last year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_New_Jersey_casino_expansion_amendment

who even supported that other than a couple multi-millionaire developers?

Casinos are massive job-creators. Each one employs like 3000 and generates a lot of tax revenue. The thing was that the establishment of any casinos outside those in Atlantic City would’ve just drawn enough business away from the Atlantic City ones where they might’ve shut down.

[LabourJersey]

The Hudson yes and the Essex slight no were probably because the cities thought they could have gotten a casino built in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, etc. to help them out. A Newark casino was a pet project of then Republican Assemblyman Ralph Caputo in the 1960s (who got primaried in 1971 and came back as a Democrat 35 years later).

When discussing gambling referenda, there was also the stupid 2016 referendum that could allow casinos to be built no less than 72 miles from Atlantic City. Coincidentally, Freehold Raceway and Monmouth Park just happen to barely be within that totally uncalculated radius.

The measure failed spectacularly throughout the whole state, almost a reverse of the pot question last year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_New_Jersey_casino_expansion_amendment

who even supported that other than a couple multi-millionaire developers?

Casinos are massive job-creators. Each one employs like 3000 and generates a lot of tax revenue. The thing was that the establishment of any casinos outside those in Atlantic City would’ve just drawn enough business away from the Atlantic City ones where they might’ve shut down.

North Jersey casinos would absolutely have wrecked Atlantic City's casinos. The AC gambling economy has suffered a ton now that you have casinos in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Westchester County, Connecticut, etc. More casinos would just endanger the existing jobs at this rate.

 It's kind of a zero-sum economy, especially in-person gambling since most of the very casual gamblers now use online apps