South Jersey Pols To Governor: Fuggedabout Any Casinos In North Jersey

A civil war is brewing in New Jersey over the very idea of any casinos being built outside of Atlantic City.

The New Jersey Globe reports that a bipartisan letter, penned by three members of Congress and another 34 state legislators representing South Jersey, was sent to Gov. Mikie Sherrill last Friday. It implored her not to go forward with even investigating whether to ask voters for the OK to build casinos in Bergen and Monmouth County.

Without putting too fine a point on it, the dozens of legislators want her to fuggedaboutit, calling the idea a “solution looking for a problem.”

Instead, the authors of the letter would prefer to see investment in Atlantic City.

“There can be no doubt there’s been neglect of the type of investment the city and its residents need and deserve,” they wrote. “We look forward to working with all of you to develop a comprehensive plan to make Atlantic City the destination we all know it can be.”

The fight

The letter is in direct response to a proposed constitutional amendment introduced last May by state Sens. Paul Sarlo and Vin Gopal. It would allow voters to decide whether to allow Meadowlands Racetrack and Monmouth Park Racetrack to offer casinos.

“This plants a flag to send a message to New York State that if they open a casino in Manhattan, that New Jersey is ready to respond to the competition,” Sarlo said in a statement to Politico Pro at the time. “New Jersey isn’t going to let gambling dollars in northern New Jersey leave our state for a casino in Manhattan.”

Of course, no bids from Manhattan ended up being chosen in the race for a casino license in downstate New York. But that hasn’t stopped the idea of new casinos being built in the Garden State, despite Atlantic City having been the only place where casino gaming is permitted since it launched nearly 50 years ago.

In fact, The New York Times reports Sherrill is listening with an open mind to the idea.

The proposal doesn’t come without baggage. A similar question was brought to voters in 2016, and they were not having it, with 77% of the public voting against.

“New Jersey has serious challenges and our time as elected officials would be better spent focusing on issues that matter to the people we represent, not well heeled special interests who want to expand gaming in defiance of the clear will of Monmouth and Bergen County voters who rejected expanded gaming by a devastating margin of 25-75,” the elected officials wrote in their letter, referring to the 2016 vote.