Voters in the town of Milford, which is in the Greater Boston area, on Tuesday voted down a plan backed by Foxwoods for a new $1 billion casino.
The vote was 6,361 to 3,480 against the plan, as around 57 percent of registered voters turned out to the polls to weigh in on the crucial economic issue.
“There was always a lot of opposition,” Foxwoods Chief Executive Scott Butera told The Boston Globe. “We tried to change people’s minds and educate people, but we weren’t able to do it. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
Foxwoods spent $792,000 between April and the end of October to try to convince people that a new casino was a good idea, according to campaign finance documents, The Globe reported.
In response to Foxwoods’ efforts, a Casino-Free Milford group sprouted up. Those who campaigned against the casino reportedly were elated with the victory.
“We knew we would never be able to match the dollars of the Foxwoods’ campaign,” the group said in a statement. “We also knew that money does not buy you everything, and so we focused our efforts where they would count the most, on the people of Milford, by spreading our message slowly, friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor.”
Foxwoods’ exit from a Boston-area casino leaves Wynn Resorts as the likely favorite. The latter wants to build a massive casino complex in the town of Everett.
MGM Resorts International looks like the favorite to build in Springfield.
In 2011, Massachusetts authorized three new Las Vegas-style casinos, one in three regions of the state. A tribal group could wind up with the right to build the third such property.
