Mainers divided on casino issue New poll reveals north-south split on tribal proposal

BANGOR – How one feels about a gambling casino in Maine depends largely on whether one lives north or south of Augusta, according to a poll commissioned by a media partnership including the Bangor Daily News.

In the statewide poll of 523 likely Maine voters, 45 percent favored a proposal by Maine’s two largest Indian tribes to build a casino in the state, with 44 percent opposed. About 11 percent said they were undecided.

While the statewide numbers were close – and well within the poll’s 4.3 percent margin of error – the divide widened considerably in each of Maine’s congressional districts.

In Maine’s northern – and poorer – 2nd District, 50 percent of the likely voters surveyed said they would support a casino, while 39 percent said they would not.

In the state’s comparatively wealthy southern 1st District, the numbers essentially were reversed, with 49 percent opposed and 40 percent in favor. In each region, about 11 percent were undecided.

The numbers came as no surprise to Rep. John Morrison, R-Baileyville, who cited his home county’s high poverty and unemployment rates as reasons for considering what supporters say would jump-start the economically depressed area.

“We’re in desperate straits here in northern and eastern Maine,” said Morrison from his home near the Washington County city of Calais, a possible site of a satellite casino that might accompany a larger project in southern Maine.

“This is a debate between the have and have-nots, and we want to leave the door open to the possibility” of a casino, continued Morrison, saying he was heartened by the poll results, which suggested the public has not ruled out the controversial proposal.

Last spring the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe proposed building an estimated $500 million casino in Kittery, but because casino gambling is illegal in the state, they need the Legislature to pass a law giving them permission.

The southern Maine plan was met with fierce resistance there, with several York County towns adopting ordinances prohibiting casino gambling, and several more to decide the matter with Nov. 5 referendums.

With the September poll suggesting the public is open-minded, Morrison said swaying undecided voters and legislators could depend on the findings of a legislative task force charged with collecting information about the potential impacts of a casino in Maine.

The task force, which met for the first time two weeks ago, is next scheduled to meet Sept. 30.

Rep. Thomas Murphy, R-Kennebunk, also is interested in the task force’s findings, although the casino opponent said he won’t put much stock in them because of what he called the pro-casino makeup of the panel.

Murphy, reached Sunday, said while he understood the apparent support for a casino in struggling rural Maine, the idea was ill advised considering the potential drawbacks.

“When you’re in those desperate straits you want to find a magic bullet and you become desperate,” said Murphy. “But your problems will not be over.

“There’s this kind of glitz and excitement when people first start talking about it, but as soon as you dig into it you see the downside,” continued Murphy, who said the benefits of a casino – namely money for the state – were far outweighed by increased traffic and crime, and by the loss of local businesses.

Indeed, money did change the opinions of some likely voters surveyed as part of the RKM Research and Communications poll.

When asked if they would support a casino if a portion of the earnings were returned to the state, 50 percent said they would while 39 percent said no. Eleven percent remained undecided.

Even 1st District voters were more accepting of the plan, with 45 percent in favor and 44 percent opposed. In the 2nd District, 54 percent of those surveyed were in favor with 35 percent opposed.

The poll was conducted for a partnership among WLBZ 2 Bangor, WCSH 6 Portland, the Bangor Daily News and Mane Public Broadcasting.

The telephone survey was conducted Sept. 7 to 10.