{"id":276140,"date":"2023-06-05T11:20:33","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T16:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=276140"},"modified":"2023-06-06T11:54:22","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T16:54:22","slug":"casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/","title":{"rendered":"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately side with them in November.<\/p>\n

\"Richmond
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, seen in a press conference, above. Stoney and the City Council are moving forward with a new casino referendum. (Image: Richmond Times-Dispatch<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council leaders began the formal process of putting a new referendum on this year\u2019s ballot last week. Voters narrowly rejected a casino in 2021.<\/p>\n

\n

The city council\u2019s Organizational Development Standing Committee is scheduled to meet today to take the first formal step in the process when it votes on a resolution to endorse the proposed $500 million casino on the city\u2019s south side. The full city council is scheduled to vote on the measure a week later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Adding to proponents\u2019 optimism is the participation of Churchill Downs, the famed home of the Kentucky Derby, which is committed to partnering<\/a> with Black-focused media conglomerate Urban One to develop the casino. Churchill Downs, in February, took over casino and resort assets from Peninsula Pacific Entertainment\u2019s (P2E), the initial partner of Urban One in the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care who you are, everyone knows the Kentucky Derby,\u201d Jones said, calling Churchill Downs\u2019 involvement a \u201cmajor change.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’<\/h2>\n

City Councilwoman Reva Trammel, another project champion, told Casino.org<\/em> she plans to hold a community meeting on Thursday with Stoney, Urban One CEO Alfred Liggins, and other community representatives to discuss the project’s benefits.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be jobs, jobs, jobs,\u201d Trammel told Casino.org.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

City officials estimate the project will create 1,300 jobs.<\/p>\n

Hurdles Remain<\/h2>\n

Assuming the council backs the plan, there are still some hurdles to clear, including review by local courts, and opponents are holding out hope that the state legislature may again block the referendum, as it did last year.<\/p>\n

But options appear to be thin. State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D), who has sought to block the Richmond vote in order to ease the path for a casino in Petersburg, Va., about 25 miles to the south, failed to get language included in the state budget earlier this year<\/a>. He\u00a0is holding out hope that the legislature can reconvene before its session expires on July 1 to act on the issue.<\/p>\n

“There appears to be a consensus,” Morrissey told Axios<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

\n

Morrissey blamed the budget delay on political considerations by members of the state legislature ahead of the June 20 primary elections. Still, he said he expected the legislature would reconvene and pass a budget after the primary and before the July 1 deadline to end the session.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He acknowledged the legislature is in \u201ca bit of uncharted territory\u201d but said there was ample support block Richmond from holding up another casino vote and that the budget delay had more to do with larger disagreements around issues such as taxes.<\/p>\n

If the legislature is able to pass a budget this month, \u201cwe\u2019ll be right back where we were last year,\u201d Morrissey told Casino.org<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He also said he expected to have additional support in next year\u2019s legislative session to pass new legislation allowing Petersburg to hold its own referendum to host Virginia\u2019s fifth casino instead of Richmond.<\/p>\n

New Sunhead<\/h2>\n

But Richmond officials appear unperturbed by Morrissey\u2019s ongoing opposition.<\/p>\n

When you look at the Joe Morrissey playbook, this is kinda expected,\u201d <\/strong>City Council President Michael Jones told Casino.org<\/em> in an interview. \u201cWe just want something different than what he\u2019s proposing. \u2026 We want to be allowed to exercise what was given to us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While critics say it would be unfair to give Richmond another crack at a casino referendum, following the 2021 vote in which 51% of voters said no to the plan, Jones said it is not uncommon for referendums to go out more than once.<\/p>\n

Last time there was a lot of misinformation,\u201d<\/strong> Jones told Casino.org<\/em>, blaming \u201cNIMBYism\u201d for much of the opposition to the project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jones noted that the majority of Black precincts south of the James River, nearer to the proposed casino site, were more likely to vote in favor of the measure last time around. He was hopeful that voters throughout the city would be more apt to vote yes this year.<\/p>\n

Jones lamented that the vote was so sharply divided along racial lines and said supporters would be \u201cgoing to the white communities, sharing why the Black communities want it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately side with them in November. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council leaders began the formal process of putting a new referendum on this year\u2019s ballot last week. Voters narrowly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":276141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13,86435],"tags":[82414,81899,85142,81995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCasino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-05T16:20:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-06T16:54:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"415\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nick Juliano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nick Juliano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/\",\"name\":\"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-05T16:20:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-06T16:54:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d36eacaa6ec6ccb3444785a8820dcfbc\"},\"description\":\"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":415},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d36eacaa6ec6ccb3444785a8820dcfbc\",\"name\":\"Nick Juliano\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-Untitled-design-10-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-Untitled-design-10-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Nick Juliano\"},\"description\":\"Nick Juliano covers the regulation of sports betting and casino gaming in the United States. He started as a senior reporter for Casino.org in June 2023 and has covered breaking news regarding legislative and regulatory developments in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic. Nick has been a journalist since 2005 and previously wrote for organizations including Politico and the Associated Press. Based in Washington, DC, Nick is an expert on politics and public policy and has covered issues including environmental regulation, energy development and tribal gaming. In his free time, Nick enjoys trying new restaurants and attending concerts around town. He is a fan of all types of games in and out of the casino, from poker to Magic: The Gathering. Contact Nick at nick@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/nick-juliano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org","description":"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org","og_description":"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-06-05T16:20:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-06T16:54:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":415,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Nick Juliano","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nick Juliano","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/","name":"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png","datePublished":"2023-06-05T16:20:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-06T16:54:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d36eacaa6ec6ccb3444785a8820dcfbc"},"description":"Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-4.54.11-PM.png","width":600,"height":415},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-referendum-set-to-advance-in-richmond-va\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislation","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d36eacaa6ec6ccb3444785a8820dcfbc","name":"Nick Juliano","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-Untitled-design-10-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/cropped-Untitled-design-10-96x96.png","caption":"Nick Juliano"},"description":"Nick Juliano covers the regulation of sports betting and casino gaming in the United States. He started as a senior reporter for Casino.org in June 2023 and has covered breaking news regarding legislative and regulatory developments in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Mid-Atlantic. Nick has been a journalist since 2005 and previously wrote for organizations including Politico and the Associated Press. Based in Washington, DC, Nick is an expert on politics and public policy and has covered issues including environmental regulation, energy development and tribal gaming. In his free time, Nick enjoys trying new restaurants and attending concerts around town. He is a fan of all types of games in and out of the casino, from poker to Magic: The Gathering. Contact Nick at nick@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/nick-juliano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276140"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276266,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276140\/revisions\/276266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}