State Survey: Colorado Voters Strongly Oppose More Legal Gaming Options
Trevor Phipps
Recent headlines across the state have led to growing speculation that Colorado could be gaining another legal gambling town.
But to date, local leaders have refrained from making any public comments regarding a possible gaming bid from a nearby city, and one of southern Colorado’s larger communities. In fact, the number one gambling concern voiced by Cripple Creek and Teller County officials still hinges on the possibility of I-(Internet) gaming.
Currently, it’s embedded in the state’s constitution that legal gambling is only allowed in the three Colorado mountain towns: Cripple Creek, Central City and Black Hawk.
However, if city representatives in Pueblo have their way, the “Steel City” in southern Colorado could be in the running to become Colorado’s next gambling city. The idea first came about during a discussion between Pueblo City Councilman Brett Boston and Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham on Graham’s “The Mayor’s Mixtape” podcast.
During an episode of the podcast that aired on Feb. 3, the city council member and mayor talked about possibly bringing casinos into a small part of Pueblo. “I don’t want Pueblo to be a casino city, but I do want maybe two, three, five at most, casinos all centrally located in the downtown area that’ll help revitalize downtown,” Boston said on the mayor’s podcast.
The council member said that the idea is just hypothetical, but leaders are reviewing their options. He said that Pueblo’s downtown region could use an economic boost. He said he believes the addition of casinos to Pueblo’s downtown area could help increase foot traffic, tourism and help support other businesses.
Pueblo’s Mayor Graham agreed that the city’s representatives believe that all options are on the table.
“The city of Pueblo is open for business, and we are definitely looking for new opportunities to diversify our revenue. I’m happy to hear that members of City Council like Councilor Boston are looking to attract new businesses, increase tourism and utilize our already vibrant amenities here in Pueblo which then could potentially support legalized gambling,” Mayor Graham said in a statement.
Bids for More Legal Gambling Face Huge Legal Obstacles
However, although some may like to entertain the idea of adding a fourth gambling town to Colorado, it would require a change in the state’s constitution. Once Colorado became a state in 1876 all forms of gambling were prohibited in the constitution.
Since then, types of gambling like horse betting, state lottery, bingo and raffles were allowed with an amendment to the constitution, but no casinos were permitted. Then in Nov. 1990, voters agreed to amend the constitution so that limited stakes gambling was legal in Cripple Creek, Central City and Black Hawk. This followed a big campaign launched by local business owners in Cripple Creek and the two other mountain towns, resulting in a citizen-driven state ballot issue and a subsequent positive vote. Limited stakes gaming began in the three Colorado historic towns on Oct. 1, 1991.
The recent news definitely doesn’t make Pueblo the first city to attempt to legalize gambling and compete with towns like Cripple Creek. Two years after gaming was legalized, a flood of amendments hit the ballot box to allow gambling in other areas in Colorado, such as lower downtown Denver, Parachute, Trinidad, Walsenburg, Naturita, Leadville, Silver Cliff, Lake City, Silverton, Oak Creek, Grand Lake, Walden, and Dinosaur, as well as the entire counties of Las Animas, Hinsdale, and Huerfano, Burlington, Evans, Lamar, Las Animas, Sterling, Antonito, Garden City, Grenada, Holly, Julesburg, Ovid, Milliken, Peetz, and Sedgwick, along with the counties of Logan, Prowers, and Sedgwick.
All of the 1992 amendments were defeated at the ballot stage, with an average of over a million voters saying “no.” Another effort in 1994 would have made gambling legal in Trinidad and Manitou Springs. These amendments were also both substantially defeated. A new barrier then was added by state voters, requiring such pro-gambling expansion amendments to also have to get the approval of the majority of citizens in their respective local communities.
The idea of other towns and areas wanting a piece of the gaming pie is not new to the state. Over the years, lobbyists and elected leaders representing Cripple Creek and Teller County have fought hard against new laws that would be detrimental to the success of the current legal gaming cities.
Most Colorado Voters Against I-Gaming
Over the last several years, Cripple Creek officials have feared efforts to legalize I-Gaming or online gambling, thinking that it would be bad for business in the three existing gambling towns. Experts say that when I-Gaming was legalized in other states, brick and mortar gaming businesses saw a significant drop in revenue. This ssue was brought up at a recent panel discussion with U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper during a meeting in Woodland Park, a forum attended by many government and business representatives and members of the media.
Moreover, the National Association Against I-Gaming (NAAiG), recently published the results of a statewide survey that proved that 80 percent of Colorado voters don’t want legalized I-Gaming. Whether the change comes about through legislation or a ballot questions, Coloradans seem to be against it along with other changes in legal gambling, such as allowing 18-year-olds to play lottery games online using credit cards.
Most Coloradans also said that they wouldn’t vote for a candidate who supported legalized I-Gaming. “Opposition to I-Gaming among Coloradans aligns with the sentiment of voters in other states, but the share of residents who oppose it in Colorado is higher than anywhere else in the country. Initially, 58% of voters said they opposed legalization of I-Gaming, but opposition surged to 80% once respondents were informed what I-Gaming is and how it operates,” the NAAiG said in a press release. “The same number – 80% – also said that online gambling is a stealth tax that will hurt kids and poor people. As voters learned about the economic and mental health harms associated with online casino gambling in other states, their opposition intensity increased significantly.”
This poll is good news for Cripple Creek and Teller County. But Solomon “Sol” Malick, the government lobbyist for the city of Cripple Creek, has continued to hit the red alert button regarding the I-gaming threat during regular presentations before the CC city council. Malick fears that the state’s push for additional revenue may play a role in support for such a proposition.
The idea of legal gambling in Pueblo was also entertained in the past about 20 years ago. That effort was fought hard by previous Cripple Creek Mayor Ed Libby and other local leaders at the time. Subsequently, the Pueblo gambling push suffered a swift death prior to any type of state vote.
