THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 21, 1995 TAG: 9501210219
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE AND ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Virginia voters are betting against legalizing riverboat casinos, but new evidence surfaced Friday suggesting the issue can still beat the odds.
A poll commissioned by the casino lobby shows 48 percent of the state's probable voters would oppose riverboat gambling in a referendum, while only 40 would vote for it.
But when floating casinos were equated with 24,000 new jobs, $123 million in annual tax revenue, better schools and more cops - the battle cry of riverboat advocates - opinion shifted to 52 percent support, according to the poll released Friday.
A separate, regional survey showed that 55.7 percent of the residents of Hampton Roads - a probable home port for any floating casinos - think riverboat gambling would be good for the area.
``There are plenty of votes available,'' said Alan Secrest, a Democratic pollster who conducted the statewide poll with Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio.
``This issue is still very, very competitive.''
That survey, financed by the Virginia Riverboat Council, highlighted figures showing that 92 percent of 909 voters polled want riverboat gambling's fate decided by statewide referendum, not in the legislature.
Riverboat opponents shrugged at the results.
``I just distrust polls paid for by advocates of the particular issue, particularly one as sleazy, parasitic and predatory as casino gambling has proved itself to be across the nation,'' said William W. Kincaid of the lobbying group Virginians Deserve Better Inc.
Del. Riley E. Ingram, R-Hopewell, backed the idea of a referendum, but questioned the credibility of the pollster, Cooper and Secrest Associates.
``They can word the question in such a way to make you believe almost anything they want you to believe,'' he said.
Ingram asserted that Cooper and Secrest falsely represented him in polling done during his re-election two years ago. As a result, he is co-sponsoring legislation that he calls the ``antisleaze polling'' bill.
Secrest maintained his polling firm ``asked questions in (Ingram's) district that were 100 percent accurate,'' although he declined to identity the actual questions.
Questions were also raised about Friday's second poll, conducted independently by Norfolk-based Continental Research Associates. A survey of 300 residents in South Hampton Roads showed that 55.7 percent backed riverboat gambling. But the pollster did not screen for registered voters.
``Residents could be anybody,'' said Del Ali of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc., which issued a separate poll Thursday in which riverboats failed, 52 percent to 36 percent.
``If these were not registered voters, I would take it with a grain of salt.''
Despite the skepticism, gaming advocates took comfort in the latest results, contending that they show the issue could clear the legislature this year despite two past defeats.
Voters in the pro-lobby poll were asked how specific potential benefits of riverboat gambling would affect their decisions in the voting booth. Among the findings:
If riverboat gambling created 24,000 new jobs, 58 percent would likely vote for it.
If tax revenue from riverboat gambling increased spending for education and crime prevention, it would likely be approved by at least 60 percent of the voters.
If the casinos produced $10 million a year for economic development in Southwest Virginia, 52 percent would favor them.
After being told that ``according to law enforcement officials, crime has not increased in other communities where riverboat gambling is legal,'' 53 percent were likely to support it.
When asked whether opposition from Virginia Beach-based televangelist Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition would affect their voting, 14 percent said they would definitely support gambling. More than half said it would make no difference.
In other Assembly news, Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III urged approval of a bill giving the state the right to appeal criminal cases.
Gilmore said at a news conference that prosecutors should have the same right defendants have to appeal criminal cases to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, is sponsoring legislation to amend the Virginia Constitution to allow such appeals.
The legislature would have to approve the bill in consecutive sessions. Voters would then consider the measure through a statewide referendum.
Gilmore said Virginia is the only one of 38 states with similar court systems not to have an ``equal access'' appeals procedure.
``The people, and the victim, are denied the right to ask the Supreme Court to take a second look at any errors the courts may have made,'' Gilmore said.
``It's this denied right . . . that needs to be changed if justice in Virginia is to be truly equal for all Virginians.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY POLL RIVERBOAT GAMBLING CRIMINAL
JUSTICE SYSTEM by CNB