A casino project for York County, Maine will not be moving forward after voters rejected the $200 million plans. Voters were not in favor of a referendum that would create a third Las Vegas style gaming venue in the state.
Supporters of the plan spent a ton of cash to try and see voters approve the referendum. According to the Portland Press Herald, as much as $9 million was spent trying to convince voters that the casino plans should be approved. Only around 17% of voters were in approval of the measure, while the majority voted no.
The turnout for the vote was quite week, with only just over 320,000 individuals casting their decision on the matter. The state has more than one million people within the population and close to 1 million of these individuals are registered to vote in the state.
Capital Seven is a real estate development company based in Las Vegas. The company was seeking to gain approval to build a third casino for Maine. The company planned on spending $200 million on the new venue and pay $5 million in licensing fees to the state. This money would be paid on top of any taxes set for table games and revenues.
While there were supporters, there were also those who were opposed to the project. Churchill Downs, the Oxford Casino owner, was in opposition of the project. The Governor of Maine, Paul LaPage, also admitted opposition towards the idea.
For now, the casino project will have to be put on hold. For the 2017 voting taking place yesterday, the state of Maine was the only one where a casino question was on the ballot. The last time that a gaming measure was approved for the state was in 2010 when the Oxford casino was approved.
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