Campaign for North New Jersey Casinos Ends

Meadowlands owner Jeff Gural has ended a campaign supporting the addition of casinos to the northern part of New Jersey.

While an amendment that would allow two casinos to be added in northern New Jersey remains on the November ballot, Gural and former Reebok chairman Paul Fireman have ended their political campaign in support of the measure.

Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce president Jim Kirkos asked New Jersey voters for their continued support of the bill.

"We are extremely disturbed to hear the news that funding has been suspended from the Our Turn campaign, which was the only Yes vote entity with the resources to deliver mass media messages about the benefits to New Jersey from extending gaming into North Jersey," Kirkos said. "While we recognize the polling numbers were an uphill climb and in this toxic climate left a difficult path to success, we do not think the voters ever had a clear understanding of the positive impacts New Jersey stands to gain if the referendum passes."

Supporters of the plan envisioned one of the casinos being added at Meadowlands racetrack with at least 2% of casino revenues committed to Standardbred and Thoroughbred purses.

Our Turn organizers told Associated Press they were suspending the campaign because of the political climate and voters' concerns about lack of detail for the expansion. Kirkos applauded the initial attempt to rally support by Gural and Fireman.

"We were fortunate that Jeff Gural and Paul Fireman went as far as they did with their funding so that the necessary baseline of research, polling, and basic messaging were created and circulated," Kirkos said. "We think with the appropriate resources this campaign could prevail, and we hope they will re-engage if we are successful in our next steps, which is bringing the case to the voters through a more aggressive information and advocacy campaign."

Launched in early August, the Our Turn campaign said the added casinos would be good for New Jersey.

"By allowing entertainment destinations with gaming to be built in northern New Jersey, voters can assist in creating 43,000 jobs in the region," Our Turn said. "These venues would include local hiring commitments that will support thousands of new and existing jobs in New Jersey, create opportunities for local workforce training programs and partnerships with the area's educational institutions, and benefit residents through ironclad community benefit agreements privately funded by developers.

"Two new entertainment and gaming destinations are projected to generate $500 million dollars a year in tax revenue to help our local communities and reduce the tax burden on New Jersey taxpayers, including keeping property taxes stable. Applicants have to commit to investing at least $1 billion of private funding into each project and will not receive any public subsidies."