Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

Reversing their decision of a decade ago, Clark County voters approved legalized gambling for the county by a wide margin yesterday. It was the third time the question had been put to a referendum in the county. In 1993 and 1995 it was rejected by margins of about 2,000 votes, out of about 26,000 cast. "I'm not a bit surprised," said Jeffersonville City Councilman John Perkins, one of the few elected officials in the county to publicly support gambling. He said he did so only for the economic benefits of a casino. Perkins said that in the last referendum gambling opponents "ran pictures and ads of prostitutes standing under street lights" to show the problems they thought it would bring to the area. But now, he said, the county has eight years' experience with the Caesars casino operating only a few miles down the Ohio River in Harrison County. Voters can see the millions of dollars it has brought to that county with few of the problems opponents predicted, Perkins said. However, approval doesn't mean Clark will get a riverboat anytime soon -- if ever. One of the existing 11 boats would have to move from another location or the legislature would have to authorize a 12th license -- not a sure bet in either case. Bob Bailey, a leader of the church-based opposition to gambling, said foes now have no further recourse. "The people have spoken," he said. Bailey, director of missions for the Southeastern Indiana Baptist Association, said his organization will turn its attention to developing the social-service programs he believes would be needed if a casino moves to Clark. That would include counseling for those addicted to gambling, he said. Although no license is available for a casino in Clark, Bailey said, he believes one will be moved there soon, perhaps from Rising Sun, where the Grand Victoria casino faces intense competition from two others downriver from Cincinnati.

Bailey and other leaders of the Southern Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling took a low-key approach this year. Instead of the high-profile opposition that was present during the campaigns in 1993 and 1995, the opponents this year simply asked the pastors of the county's more than 100 churches to urge their congregants to vote against the ballot question.

Because he was unable to identify any organized support for the issue, Bailey said he thought the low-key approach would be more effective than the high-profile approach of 1993 and 1995. In those campaigns supporters of gambling spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, yard signs and polling.

Perkins, a Democrat, began circulating a petition early this year to put the question on the Clark ballot. But, he said, he got involved in the major annexation that the Jeffersonville City Council is working on and didn't have enough time to gather all 463 signatures needed.

After Perkins's effort faltered in the summer, a petition supported by leaders of the Republican Party got more than enough signatures.

Leaders of the Clark County Democratic Party, including chairman Rod Pate, have said the Republican-led petition drive was an attempt to stir that party's conservative base to come out and vote against the measure -- and for the party's candidates.

However, Clark County Republican Chairman Glenn Murphy Jr. has denied that. He said he signed the petition because he thought it would be more likely to be defeated if it was on the ballot during this year's countywide election rather than next year in municipal elections.