(Spencer)– Barring any changes to state law, efforts to put a riverboat casino in Clay county have been sunk by voters.
Unofficial results from the Clay County Auditor’s Office, with all 11 precincts reporting, show the measure was voted down overwhelmingly Tuesday. 3,049 people voted no, or 61 percent, compared to only 1,960, or 39 percent, that were in favor.
41 percent of the county’s eligible voters turned out at the polls.
Opponents of the measure were successful in Tuesday’s vote, even though they were heavily outspent by those who were in favor of the issue. Campaign disclosure reports show the “Don’t Gamble With Our Future Committee” raised only 10,500-dollars…compared with more than 141-thousand raised by the Clay County Gamining Initiative, which was in favor of the proposal.
As of right now, Palo Alto county is the only county in northwest Iowa to approve allowing gambling if the state lifts the moratorium on new gambling licenses. Voters in Dickinson county overwhelmingly voted down a gambling referendum last summer.
The proposal for Clay county called for a riverboat casino and a related development to be located on a manmade lake between Spencer and Fostoria.
