Lawmakers scrapped casino plans last year. Here's what NC adults think about more gambling
A majority of North Carolina adults support allowing casinos in rural parts of North Carolina, according to a new WRAL News poll released Friday — a finding that could inform future efforts to expand commercial gambling in the state.
State lawmakers last year considered a proposal to allow four entertainment districts, anchored by a Las Vegas-style casino, in economically distressed parts of North Carolina. The proposal, which was part of budget negotiations, never got a vote and was scrapped after vocal opposition inside and outside of the legislature.
The districts, which would have required at least $500 million in investments, were planned for Rockingham County, Nash County, Anson County and in the southeastern part of the state. There are currently three full-service casinos in North Carolina located on tribal land.
The poll of 850 adults found that 55% support allowing casinos, with 20% saying they strongly support them and another 35% saying they somewhat support them. Less than 30% of respondents oppose casinos in rural parts of the state with 15% saying they somewhat oppose casinos and 13% strongly opposing them. Another 16% said they were not sure.
The poll, conducted in partnership with SurveyUSA between March 3 and March 9, has a credibility interval of 4.1 percentage points. A credibility interval is similar to margin of error but takes into account more factors and is considered by some pollsters to be a more accurate measurement of statistical certainty.
The strongest support for casinos in rural areas comes from: Men (25% strongly support), those under 50 (25%), those who identify as Black (27%) or Hispanic (31%) and Democrats (25%).
The strongest opposition against casinos comes from: those who make less than $40,000 a year (22%), those whose highest level of education is high school (21%) and those who identify as Asian (28%).
The results were consistent among regions of the state and among adults who live in urban, suburban and rural areas.
The findings were similar to a late January poll from researchers at Meredith College, who regularly survey voters on state issues, and from a 2023 poll by the conservative John Locke Foundation.
“Most North Carolinians seem accustomed to all forms of gambling, so supporting casino gambling in the state does not seem unusual,” said David McLennan, director of Meredith Poll, last month.
“We have the lottery and have just adopted online sports wagering in the state. Plus, many states, including those on the border of the state, now have casino gambling so even citizens who might have had objections to casino gambling 20 years ago might be resigned to the fact that all forms of gambling are inevitable.”
Legislative leaders have said they do not plan to pursue casino legislation in this year’s session. Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, championed last year’s effort.
But lawmakers — who approved mobile sports betting last year — could seek to legalize video lottery terminals, which are slot machine-style electronic games. The lottery began selling digital scratch-off tickets in November, another expansion of gambling in the state.
"You already have the lottery, you already have scratch-offs,” House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said in February. “In fact, you already have those [digital scratch-offs] you can play on your phone right now. So I don't know that it's much of a leap."
