No North Jersey Casinos, said it will spend "formidable" money to oppose November's ballot question.
TRENTON -- A coalition of south Jersey businesses, casino officials, and politicians has launched an effort to defeat a ballot question asking voters in November to approve expanding casino gambling to the northern part of the state.
The group, called No North Jersey Casinos, said it will spend "formidable" money to oppose the plan, which calls for two casinos to be built in north Jersey.
"We know the other side is going to spend heavily on this," Debra DiLorenzo, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey and the coalition's leader, said Monday at a news conference in Trenton, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Currently, Atlantic City is the only place in the state allowed to have casinos.
Dems confident casinos will come to north Jersey
Opponents say north Jersey gambling halls would steal more business away from Atlantic City, which has seen four casinos close in recent years amid increasing competition from neighboring states.
Wall Street credit rating agency Fitch Services warned earlier this month that four more could close in the seaside resort town if gambling is expanded to the north.
"If you vote for this, 23,000 to 30,000 families are going to be out of work," DiLorenzo said, according to the AP. "How does that help our state? That's a punch to the gut."
Proponents of north Jersey casinos say the plan would bring more jobs and revenue to the state and help keep the state competitive in the northeastern gaming market.
Plus, they note, the proposal would give up to $120 million annually to help Atlantic City reinvent itself as an entertainment destination.
But another member of the coalition, Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts casino in Atlantic City, said a study commissioned by the group predicts the expansion would also cause two more things: widespread secondary job losses among small businesses that supply the casinos, as well as a resulting tax loss to the state.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian argued that "people don't just come to Atlantic City for gambling."
"They come for the spas, the restaurants, the nightclubs," Guardian said, according to the AP. "If you cut half the casinos out, you would lose half the tax revenue that's going to the state."
Casino analyst Cory Morowitz, the study's author, said northern casinos could erase $1 billion to $1.4 billion of casino revenue in Atlantic City. Last year, the city's eight remaining casinos took in $2.56 billion.
The news conference came about a week after proponents of north Jersey casinos -- including state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) -- held their own kick-off event to push for the ballot question to pass.
A recent Monmouth University poll showed New Jerseyans are evenly split on the question.
It is still unclear where the casinos would be built, though there are proposals for gambling halls in Jersey City, and at both the Meadowlands Racetrack and the American Dream facility in East Rutherford.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.