New Jersey Voters Remain Opposed to Allowing Casinos Outside of Atlantic City
Posted on: April 3, 2026, 10:23h.
Last updated on: April 3, 2026, 10:23h.
- A poll suggests that New Jersey voters don’t want more casinos
- New Jersey voters rejected a statewide referendum in 2016 to allow casinos outside of Atlantic City
A new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University finds that New Jersey residents remain opposed to allowing casinos outside of Atlantic City.
The latest FDU Poll finds that 50% of New Jersey voters don’t want to allow casinos at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park horse racetracks. Public sentiment seemingly hasn’t changed despite New York moving forward with three downstate casinos, two in Queens and one in the Bronx.
People made up their minds about casino expansion a long time ago,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of government and politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and the Executive Director of the FDU Poll. “Unless something dramatic happens, putting the issue in front of voters is going to lead to the same outcome as it did before.”
New Jersey last asked voters to authorize casinos outside of Atlantic City in 2016. The statewide ballot question was strongly rejected, with 77% of the vote opposed.
Atlantic City Casino Gambling
The nine casinos in Atlantic City generated gross gaming revenue of $2.89 billion last year from their physical slot machines and table games. That represented a 2.7% increase on 2024, but is a steep decline from 2006 when the casinos won more than $5.2 billion. The 2006 result was the final year before casinos began opening in neighboring Philadelphia.
2025 was also mixed for the Atlantic City casinos, with only four of the nine properties winning more money from in-person play year-over-year. The Hard Rock, Resorts World, and Bally’s casinos in New York City threaten to further strain Atlantic City.
New Jerseyans, however, don’t favor more gaming in the Garden State.
The only thing that’s changed since last time this was tried is more casinos opening in New York,” explained Cassino, the appropriately named pollster. “That matters a lot to the folks who want to open casinos, but it doesn’t seem to matter to the voters.”
While 50% of the FDU Poll said they oppose casinos outside of Atlantic City, 44% said they would vote in favor of a referendum to allow casinos elsewhere.
Casino Expansion Bill
New Jersey Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris) has been a longtime proponent of expanding casino gambling. This year, he’s authored Senate Concurrent Resolution 31, a bill that seeks to ask voters to authorize slots and table games at the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.
SCR31 would require that 30% of the state’s tax revenue collected from horse racetrack casinos be allocated to help the remaining casinos in Atlantic City. Another 7% of the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park casino tax money would go towards programs “dedicated for the purposes of the recovery, stabilization, or improvement” of Atlantic City.
Pennacchio’s bill has not advanced out of the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee. The resolution has sat there since mid-January. The New Jersey Legislature’s 2026 session runs through the end of the year.
No comments yet