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$18M may be spent before the fall vote
The attack ads and news releases are flying, and the governor is trying to take the issue to court.
It’s playoff time in Rhode Island’s casino season.
In the run-up to the general election in November – when, barring intervention by the R.I. Supreme Court, voters will be asked to amend the state constitution to make way for a Harrah’s Entertainment casino in West Warwick – interested parties for and against the plan have been stepping up their efforts to sway Rhode Islanders’ opinions.
Two new groups have emerged to represent the faces and advertising efforts of both sides: One is backed by Harrah’s and its partner the Narragansett Indian Tribe, the other by opposing members of the business community.
Angelique Pirozzi, campaign manager for the Harrah’s-backed organization, Rhode Islanders for Job and Tax Relief, said last week that some facets of the group’s campaign are still in the planning stages, though on several fronts, the push has begun.
The group already has paid for broadcast ads featuring Narragansett Indian Tribe Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas talking about what the casino would mean for the tribe. And, Pirozzi said, grassroots efforts also are under way, enlisting local organizers in all 39 of the state’s cities and towns.
“Voters right now are planning their family vacations and trying to relax a little bit during the summer,” she said. “When voters go back to work and go back to school after Labor Day, they’ll check back into this debate.”
Tim Costa, executive director for the new anti-casino group, Save Our State (SOS), said his side is at a disadvantage because of Harrah’s involvement in the opposition group. SOS is looking to raise and spend $3 million in its advertising push, Costa said. In contrast, he said, Harrah’s is likely to spend $10 million to $15 million.
The Las Vegas-based gambling giant already spent $1 million this year, on lobbying to get the amendment placed on the ballot, according to reports filed with the R.I. secretary of state. “We’re not going to outspend them,” Costa said.
(Pirozzi said that Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief does not disclose its budget or its planned expenditures.)
With each side pledging to conduct a campaign that runs the gamut of media resources, one industry likely to experience a boon from the effort is the local newspapers.
Richard Fleischer, general manager of the Rhode Island Newspaper Group, a coalition of 22 community newspapers, said he does not believe all sides have “drawn their lines in the sand” for the 2006 casino push. But in the past, he noted, all sides have spent considerable money on advertising in local papers. “I’d like to think that between now and November they would utilize us again,” he said.
The campaigns have heated up in the wake of two recent polls, the first showing an even split on the measure and the second showing that casino proponents have a sizeable gap to close.
Rhode Island College issued the results of a poll last month showing an almost dead heat on the proposed amendment (which does not mention Harrah’s by name), with 48 percent of respondents saying they favor the proposal and 47 percent saying they oppose it. The rest were either undecided or not likely to vote.
But a Brown University poll, conducted by the school’s Taubman Center for Public Policy, reported a double-digit disadvantage for casino advocates. When asked, “Do you favor or oppose amending the state constitution to allow a gambling casino in West Warwick operated by Harrah’s in association with the Narragansett Indian Tribe?” 39 percent of respondents said they favored the amendment, while 52 percent said they were opposed. Nine percent said they didn’t know, or offered no answer.
Brown political science professor Darrell M. West said last week that the obstacle the poll revealed was “not necessarily” insurmountable. He said many voters have an opinion but could still be swayed.
Additionally, West said he is anticipating high voter turnout due to the hotly contested U.S. Senate race and an “active” gubernatorial election.
Still, the whole casino campaign could be derailed if Gov. Donald L. Carcieri gets his way, as he did in 2004.
Last week, the governor, flanked by Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, asked the R.I. Supreme Court to issue an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of the casino amendment.
In a letter to the court, Carcieri raised questions about the amendment’s specifying that it gives the Town of West Warwick and the potential casino operator an opportunity to establish a gambling facility, while denying that opportunity to all other Rhode Island communities. Also, Carcieri asked the court to decide whether the measure is inappropriate in giving veto power to West Warwick, even if the question is approved statewide.
But Lauren Jones, the local lawyer representing Harrah’s interests in Rhode Island, said the court “normally only steps in at the request of the governor when it has enacted legislation,” which this was not. Indeed, on Thursday, the court declined to hear the matter for procedural reasons.
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