New Mexico voters oppose expanding gambling

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 12:32 p.m.

According to a poll reported in a copyright story in today's Albuquerque Journal, 64 percent of the voters polled opposed increasing the number of casinos in New Mexico by allowing more non-Indian casinos. Twenty-three percent supported additional non-Indian casinos and 7 percent had mixed feelings. Six percent did not have an opinion or would not say.

New Mexico voters also are divided over the effect of tribal casinos on the state's economy. Forty-four percent of the 408 registered voters questioned in the March 14-16 poll said Indian casinos have had a negative economic impact on the state. Thirty-eight percent said tribal casinos had been good for the economy. Ten percent had mixed feelings and 8 percent did not know or would not say.

"New Mexicans are very mixed on whether they think the Indian casinos have had a positive or negative effect on our state, but New Mexicans are clearly saying they don't want more non-Indian casinos," said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc., which conducted the poll. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Younger voters were more positive about Indian gambling and expanding off-reservation gambling than older voters, Sanderoff said. Fifty-eight percent of voters 18 to 34 years old said Indian casinos have had a positive economic impact; only 24 percent of those 65 and older believe they had a positive impact.

New Mexicans' feelings about gambling generally ignore political lines, Sanderoff said.

But, he said, people in southern New Mexico "are generally more supportive of gaming, and also have fewer casinos.

"They are less likely to see the negative impacts of it and are less likely to hear stories of people who have been financially challenged or harmed because they don't live close to the casino."

State lawmakers have threatened to expand non-reservation gambling if tribes refuse to pay revenue-sharing fees they owe under the state's Indian gambling compacts. Those compacts currently are being renegotiated.

Voters also were asked whether they knew anyone in New Mexico whose gambling had caused family or financial problems. Three in 10 registered voters know someone who has financial or family problems brought about by gambling, Sanderoff said.

"That's a sizable number," he said.

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