Proposition 48, To Permit Vegas-Style Indian Casino In Central Valley, Trailing With 30% Of Vote Counted
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- A Native American tribe's plan for a Las Vegas-style casino in the Central Valley nearly 40 miles from its reservation was trailing with a third of the votes counted on Tuesday evening.
With 30% of precincts reporting as of 10:32 p.m., the No votes outnumbered Yes, 1,681,662 to 1,190,419.
Voters weighed in on whether the North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians were "reservation shopping," as their critics contended, or taking land that was part of their historical territory, as the tribe maintains.
Proposition 48 asked voters to approve or reject a deal signed by the governor and passed by the state Legislature that would allow the North Fork Rancheria to build the casino with up to 2,000 slot machines on a 305-acre plot of land along a major highway about 30 miles northwest of Fresno.
Opposition to North Fork's proposal came from other casino-owning tribes, including Table Mountain Rancheria, whose casino is about 25 miles from the proposed site of the North Fork facility.
The campaign against the project was also funded by New York-based Brigade Capital Management, an investment firm that backs the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, another Indian casino near the site of the proposed North Fork casino.
WHAT IT DOES
Gives California voters a chance to approve or reject a deal signed by the governor and passed by the Legislature that would allow the North Fork Rancheria Band of Mono Indians to build a casino with up to 2,000 slot machines about 30 miles northwest of Fresno.
WHO SUPPORTS IT
Gov. Jerry Brown and narrow majorities in the Legislature. The Democratic State Central Committee of California. Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, which is behind the project.
WHO OPPOSES IT
Other casino-owning tribes, including the Table Mountain Rancheria and the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria. New York-based Brigade Capital Management, an investment firm that backs the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, another Indian casino near the site of the proposed North Fork casino.
CAMPAIGN SPENDING
The groups opposing the measure had raised nearly $4 million from April through Sept. 18, while the groups supporting it have raised about $350,000 over the same period.
With a yes vote, the project would clear its last major hurdle to entering the state's Indian gambling market, where 58 tribes are currently running 59 casinos, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office.
COMPLETE CAMPAIGN 2014 RESULTS
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