Rhode Island voters seem to favor allowing state-operated casino gambling for the first time, with the results of a University poll released yesterday showing strong support for ballot questions one and two - constitutional amendments that would allow the state's two casinos to allow full-scale gambling. The poll also found Rep. David Cicilline '83, D-R.I., has a five-and-a-half-point lead over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty in the race to represent Rhode Island's first congressional district.
The poll surveyed 496 voters between Sept. 26 and Oct. 5 and was conducted by the University's Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions and the John Hazen White Public Opinion Laboratory. Its margin of error is 4.4 percent.
Casinos
Question one, which would approve state-operated casino gambling, such as table games, at Twin River Casino in Lincoln is favored by 57.3 percent of likely voters, while slightly fewer - 55.6 percent of likely voters - support allowing the Newport Grand in Newport to offer full-scale gambling. Each question faced opposition from about 30 percent of likely voters.
The state currently allows casinos to offer slot machines and other forms of electronic gambling but prevents them from offering the same games provided by Massachusetts casinos. Similar proposals have been defeated twice before - first in 1994 and again in 2006, when voters rejected a proposal to allow the Narragansett Indian tribe to construct a new casino.
Advocates of the amendments argue that a ban on casino gambling in Rhode Island does not prevent gambling and only pushes gamblers and their tax dollars to Massachusetts. Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Wendy Schiller said any bill that "suggests it might improve the economy of Rhode Island is going to be pretty popular in November." Supporters of the bill have released commercials specifically touting the casinos' potential to bring jobs to Rhode Island.
The same poll found that 93.4 percent of voters think Rhode Island's economy is either "not so good" or "poor."
Congress
The new poll found that though Cicilline can claim only a 29.7 percent approval rating among likely voters, it was more than double his 14.8 percent approval rating in the Taubman Center's February poll. Yesterday's results showed that 45.8 percent of the 236 likely voters surveyed from District 1 prefer him to Doherty, with 7.1 percent undecided. Doherty is favored by 40.3 percent of those polled - within the 6.3 percent margin of error - while Independent candidate David Vogel received support from 6.8 percent.
An Oct. 2 WPRI poll showed Cicilline with a six-point lead over Doherty.
Despite the results from these two polls, Doherty's campaign remains confident about their prospects for Election Day. The campaign labeled the votes to be cast Nov. 6 as the "only poll that counts," according to the Providence Journal.
Schiller said that with a change in focus, Doherty's campaign could still pose a threat to Cicilline. Though the 45 percent who indicated a preference for Cicilline are probably safely in his corner, Doherty could still pull out a victory over the incumbent in November if he can convince the undecided voters and steal some support from Vogel, Schiller added.
But Rhode Island's consistent support for President Obama will hamper Doherty, Schiller said, as voters who turn out for Obama will be unlikely to switch parties to vote for a Republican for Congress. The poll indicated that 58.2 percent of voters would select Obama over challenger Republican Mitt Romney - who received support from 32.3 percent of likely voters - if the election were held tomorrow.
In the second congressional district, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., has a substantial lead over his Republican challenger Michael Riley. About half of the 235 voters polled from the district - 49.4 percent - indicated their preference for the incumbent, compared to 31.5 percent who favored Riley. But 14.4 percent remain undecided with a margin of error of 6.3 percent.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is holding his ground against Republican challenger Barry Hinckley Jr., with 58.6 percent support to Hinckley's 29.7 percent. Nearly 12 percent of voters remain undecided in this race. Whitehouse has also received a bump in his approval rating since the Taubman Center's poll in February, rising 15.8 percent to 45.4 percent. He remains less popular than his colleague Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who gained 12 points for an overall rating of 58.5 percent.
Hinckley's campaign seized on Whitehouse's approval rating in a statement after the poll was released. "It is no surprise" that over half of voters disapprove of Whitehouse's performance, they told the Journal.
