Ohio Issue 3, 2009

I'm trying to make some sense of the votes for and against Issue 3, a constitutional amendment allowing for a single corporation to hold a monopoly on casinos in the state, and granting them the right to construct up to three total in four designated counties around the state. So far I'm not having a lot of luck. I don't have individual-level data to look at, yet, if ever, so I'm stuck with county-level data. This constrains interpretation to a great degree. Some very general things are notable:

  1. Central Ohio voters were more likely than not opposed to the issue. Voters in Delaware and Franklin counties voted against the measure by roughly a 3-2 margin. Those in surrounding counties such as Pickaway, Madison, and Licking also opposed the amendment, albeit by a narrower margin.
  2. Voters in and near cities in the Northeast and Southwest, i.e. Cleveland, Cincinnati, and environs, supported the measure.