Rhode Island Casino Campaign Heats Up
The people of Rhode Island will take a vote in the general election in November about whether the state will amend the state constitution on the issue of casinos.
The Rhode islanders will decide if they will allow Harrah's Entertainment to construct a casino in West Warwick.
As the election nears, the fight by opposing sides has increased as both groups have sped up their advertising campaigns.
Harrah's Entertainment and its partner, the Narragansett Indian Tribe, are fighting it out with the opposing members of the business community.
Campaign manager for the Harrah's backed organization, Angelique Pirozzi, said that Harrah's Entertainment is advocating employment and tax relief for the Rhode Islanders.
According to Pirozzi, the facade of their campaign is still in planning stages but she admitted that the initial move had started.
Tim Costa, Save Our State executive director, said that his side, the anti casino group, is encountering disadvantages because of the advertising funds.
SOS plans to raise and spend three million in its advertising campaign, but the Harrah's Entertainment might spend ten to fifteen million dollars.
The early results of the first survey shows that Rhode Islanders are split about the casino issue while the most recent poll shows that the casino advocates have a considerable gap to close to catch up.