LEWISTON – A Casinos NO! campaign event was met by a counterrally of pro-casino supporters Monday, with the two sides swapping chants and gibes.

The face-off highlighted the strong feelings of activists in both camps on Question 3 on Maine’s November ballot, which asks voters whether they want to authorize a gambling casino run by the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Holding signs, one group yelled: “No on 3! No on 3!”

An opposing crowd just yards away chanted: “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Casinos NO! has got to go!”

Violet Raymond of Winthrop, who was among about 50 people on the “yes” side, held a “Lewiston supports Maine jobs” sign and said she supports the casino “because we need jobs for Maine, good-paying jobs. And we need the revenue.”

But state Rep. Mary Black Andrews, R-York, told listeners that the proposed law behind the referendum “was written by the tribes, for the tribes.”