Last updated: December 16, 2024
The Arkansas ballot initiative, Issue 2, which could revoke the Pope County casino license, has sparked a record-breaking $30 million campaign. Key players, including the Choctaw Nation and Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB), are invested in the outcome, which could reshape Arkansas’ casino landscape. With recent legal challenges cleared, the decision now lies with voters, marking a pivotal moment for Arkansas gaming initiatives.
Campaign contributions to help set a record by committing some $30 million for or against Arkansas Issue 2 are put on the ballot through an initiative that votes for or against the future of the Pope County casino license. Of this money, half are on both sides of the measure, and thus surely set to make history about the spending on campaigns regarding this contentious nature of casinos within Arkansas.
The Arkansas Ethics Commission reported that most of the contributions were made by Local Voters in Charge, a coalition led and funded by the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, which has invested $17.6 million to oppose the casino project. The Choctaws have a horse in this race because of their own gaming operations along the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. On the opposite side, CNB’s Investing in Arkansas and the Arkansas Canvassing Compliance Committee have contributed $12.5 million and $776,575, respectively, to finance the Pope County casino. These contributions are coming in handy to retain the June license awarded to Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB).
Issue 2 generated a fair amount of attention because it cancels an existing license rather than increase gambling operations as is commonly the case with gaming ballot measures. CNB recently gained the Pope County casino license when the Arkansas Racing Commission voted in June. It will construct its new Legends Resort & Casino for $300 million some 75 miles northwest of Little Rock. Even though CNB was granted the license, its project has faced numerous roadblocks and unrelenting opposition. The proposed development will introduce a luxury casino resort into Arkansas, which will bring job opportunities and revenue for the state, but it faces resistance from parties concerned with competition and economic impact.
The Choctaw Nation has emerged as the new opposition to the Pope County project, which aims to prevent the construction of the new casino from affecting their gaming businesses along the state border. The Pope County license legal journey has been long and tumultuous, from the moment Arkansas voters approved in 2018 casinos in four counties, including Pope County. Three of those casinos have come online, and the Pope County project has been consistently snarled in court battles and changing developers.
In the past, the Pope County license was granted to a different developer in 2019. However, that license has since been revoked by the Arkansas Supreme Court. CNB acquired the project ever since and it is the Choctaw-backed Local Voters in Charge coalition that is preventing this particular casino from opening its doors. With the latest court fights now over, it’s up to the voters who decide with the vote on Issue 2 whether or not to keep the license revoked.
The scale of funding for Issue 2 eclipses past campaigns in Arkansas. In comparison, the state’s previous record was held by a 2022 recreational marijuana initiative that generated $12.4 million in contributions. A 2018 attempt to legalize casinos across the state garnered $9.7 million for the measure, a pittance compared to the expense of Issue 2. This kind of intense fundraising in support of a ballot question reflects heightened attention in Arkansas on casino- gaming packages and similarly robust operations elsewhere, such as in Missouri and California.
The vote has been stamped by Issue 2, since the state was unlikely to see marijuana and abortion initiatives on the ballot again following legal challenges. The final result of Issue 2 will decide whether CNB is continuing with its casino or if that license will be forever taken and not allowed for future legislation concerning gaming in Arkansas.
