Allen County Casino Vote Fails 61,310 to 41,625

61,310

That is the number of Allen County voters who rejected a casino on Tuesday, according to final unofficial results. The measure failed with 59.6 percent of the vote. The opposing tally stood at 41,625.

The ballot question, known as Public Question No. 3, asked residents in Allen, DeKalb, and Steuben counties if they supported allowing inland casino gambling. All three counties voted down the proposal. DeKalb County rejected the measure by a margin of 64.6 percent. Steuben County voted against it with 58.7 percent in favor of the rejection.

The vote was required by House Bill 1038, a law passed by Indiana lawmakers in February. The bill authorized the creation of a casino in one of the three counties but mandated a public referendum to gauge local support. Because the majority voted no in Allen County, the Indiana Gaming Commission cannot award a license to developers. The law also bars a second public question on the same issue in counties that vote against it.

Local leaders and organizations campaigned heavily in the months before the election. Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker and all three members of the Allen County Board of Commissioners wrote to state lawmakers in December to support the casino. The Vote Yes for Allen political action committee argued the project would create thousands of jobs and generate millions in revenue without tax increases.

Proponents cited an economic study by CBRE Group, Inc. The report estimated more than 2,000 permanent jobs and about 5,500 construction jobs. However, the study noted that only about 950 direct positions would be in Allen County. It projected that just under 2,500 construction jobs would be created locally.

Opponents focused on the gap between total estimated jobs and direct local hires. Save Northeast Indiana, a coalition of residents, business owners, and faith leaders, published fact checks on its website. The group noted that the CBRE report did not subtract jobs lost from local businesses when residents spent money at the casino. A quote on the site stated, “CBRE says 947 of the 1,676 are direct jobs at the proposed casino. The rest are estimates of additional jobs supported elsewhere.”

The coalition also referenced an economic impact report from Kenosha County, Wisconsin, which claimed violent crime increased in South Bend after the Four Winds casino opened. Cathie Humbarger of the Coalition for a Better Allen County spoke to 21Alive News last November about the risks. She said, “We certainly don’t want to bring in a corrupt organization and depend on them for economic development.” She added that the community has a responsibility to those prone to gaming addiction.