Casino issue OK’d in most areas

In Butler County, the controversial issue failed only in the town of Oxford.

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By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer 11:30 PM Friday, November 6, 2009

HAMILTON — Residents in affluent suburbs, inner cities and rural lanes across Butler County agreed Tuesday, Nov. 3, to allow casino gambling in Ohio’s major cities.

It was the college town that objected.

An analysis of the final, unofficial results of Tuesday’s election from the Butler County Board of Elections shows that 1,274 Oxford voters opposed Issue 3, while 939 supported it.

“I really don’t have an explanation for it,” said Oxford Councilman Ken Bogard, who said he wasn’t aware of any concerted local opposition to the issue.

Maybe voters there feared the toll legalized gambling could have on families, he said. Maybe they figured a casino in Cincinnati was too far away to visit anyway.

“I think it goes back to voting their conscience and what they feel about it,” he said.

Elsewhere in the county, support for Issue 3 — which passed statewide, paving the way for Las Vegas-style casinos in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo — was consistently strong.

It did narrowly pass in rural Oxford Twp, with 50.8 percent of the vote, but support was strongest in equally rural Ross Twp., with 67.7 percent supporting it.

It passed countywide with 61.7 percent of the vote — roughly the same percentage that voted against it in Oxford.

In Hamilton, roughly 64.5 percent of voters favored casinos, and roughly 64.4 percent in Middletown.

The other two state issues on the ballot Tuesday passed by even larger margins locally.

Issue 1 — which will increase benefits for veterans of the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars — passed with roughly 72.7 percent locally. It passed in every precinct across the county.

Issue 2, which created a statewide livestock care standards board, passed by 69.5 percent of the local vote. Three small precincts — again in Oxford — voted against the measure, but it overwhelmingly passed citywide and elsewhere.