Petersburg, an economically distressed city south of Richmond, previously sought a chance to hold its own referendum after Richmond’s initially failed. A fourth is moving forward slowly in Norfolk.
Three have opened so far - in Bristol, Portsmouth and Danville - all relatively near the state’s border with North Carolina. Supporters argued the casinos would be a dramatic economic boost to struggling areas. In 2020, Virginia politicians opened the door to casinos by approving legislation allowing five to be built around the state if the projects first secured voter approval. The proposal was voted down narrowly in 2021 Tuesday’s margin was far more lopsided.
“The people of Richmond have made the following clear: you can’t build a new city on old resentments,” Goldman said in a statement. In the waning days of the campaign, the developers had to apologize to a leading project opponent - longtime Democratic Party activist Paul Goldman - after a guest radio host on an Urban One station made widely condemned antisemitic remarks about him.
