Capital Region Scene

Split on casino gambling

Casino gambling New York state is continuing to see its support erode.

A Siena Research Institute poll released today, shows that people are split on legalizing non-Indian reservation casinos, with neither side getting 50 percent support. This represents a decline from last month's poll, when 52 percent of New Yorkers were in favor of the idea and 44 percent were not.

“A constitutional amendment to legalize non-Indian casinos in New York divides voters virtually down the middle. However, this is not an issue that divides voters by region, party or ideology. In fact, voters of every region, party and ideology are nearly evenly divided,” Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said in a statement. “Gender and age are more predictive of voters‟ positions, with men more supportive than women and young voters more supportive than older voters.

This issue has been asked by Siena since January; support then was 53 percent of the voters.

A campaign has already begun to gain support for this proposal by the New York Gaming Association and the owners of the state's nine racinos, who want to expand to live table gaming. They have released reports touting the economic benefit these expansions would mean to the state and the local communities.

Interesting to note is the fact the portion of "Don't Know/No Opinion" New Yorkers on this question has shrunk every month, which indicates the two sides on this issue are beginning to cement themselves. Granted, this trend has consisted of a two percentage point drop overall, from 5 percent to 3 percent of people polled not supporting or opposing the idea.

We will have more information from the Siena poll throughout the week.

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