Washington County residents might have turned down state Issue 3 by more than 3,000 votes but it wasn't nearly enough to keep Ohio from allowing casinos to be built in four of its biggest cities.
David Abbott, 59, of 7126 State Route 550, Cutler, was one of those area residents who voted against the issue.
"I was somewhat surprised (it passed)," he said. "It was close the last time (it was on the ballot), but they've really been pumping the ads on TV to pass this."
The Ohio Jobs & Growth Committee campaign topped 2008's $40 million in presidential campaign spending in the Buckeye State. The pro-casino campaign spent an average of $21 for every yes vote, the Associated Press reported.
Abbott was against the measure because it wouldn't add the types of jobs he believes the state needs - production - and would only contribute to gambling problems to other issues Ohio's already struggling with.
Janet Stanley, 63, of 1511 Boulevard Drive, Belpre, also held similar gambling concerns.
"I just think that it is going to create more problems than the good they think it's going to do," she said. "I was a little surprised (it passed), but given the economy, I guess people were thinking jobs and things like that."
Regina Devol, 52, of 510 Cutler St., Apt. 3, said she voted for the issue because of jobs.
"If it's going to put people to work, yeah," she said. "With the economy the way it is, people need work."
The Columbus site alone is expected to employ 2,000 people in a 300,000-square-foot casino.
TruthPAC, backed by MTR Gaming Inc. Chairman Jeffrey Jacobs, said the jobs numbers were exaggerated, though.
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, vowed to "be their conscience" and hold casino operators to their job promises. He predicted casinos would take a particularly heavy toll on Cleveland, a national poverty leader and a city where he was once mayor.
"I am terribly disappointed," Voinovich said in a statement. "As a result of the passage of Issue 3, there will be a great deal of pain and suffering in Ohio. I feel for the families of those who will experience casinos for the first time in their lives and, once lured in, will become addicted to gambling."
KeyBanc's Dennis Forst said economic benefits of Ohio casinos will be mixed.
"It'll certainly help Ohio's economy, through the tax dollars and the jobs and keeping the money in the borders of the state," Forst said. "On a regional basis, I'm not sure it does anything at all, because whatever is gained by Ohio is potentially lost to Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia."
Marry Rice, 77, of Marietta, voted against the measure for the same reasons Abbott and Stanley did.
Rice, though, was also concerned about where some of the money generated from the gaming would go.
"I wasn't sure where the money's going to go, or just how it was going to be processed," she said.
The Jobs and Growth Committee Web site says the majority of revenue from taxes on the casinos will be divided among Ohio's 88 counties and the school districts therein. Projections on the site say Washington County would receive more than $3 million a year.
Linda Etter, 58, of 118 Woodland Ave., Marietta, said she was upset when she learned the issue passed.
"Just like the lottery, it never did help the schools. I don't think this is going to help anybody in the long run," she said. "It's just another problem, another addiction. We already have too many addictions in this world."
The Associated Press contributed.
