re: #310 wozzablog

Locally, in NJ the State Senate remained in Democrat hands despite Christie politicking and campaigning heavily to get a few vulnerable Democrats booted from the Senate. In fact, the Democrats picked up a seat. Statewide, a ballot measure to get sports book allowed at Atlantic City was approved, but requires federal law changes to enact. It’s hoped that the sports book would open a new line of business for Atlantic City, and bring in new revenues.

But nationally, it appears that the trend was to stick with the incumbents - the numbers suggest that despite all the angst over the political situation, people are still in favor of their own representatives despite all the shortcomings.

Speaking of gambling revenues - NYC/NYS hit the jackpot with the opening of the new racino (casino) at Aqueduct. The casino, operated by Genting International finally opened a few weeks back after 10 years in delays and graft in the process. The deal that the casino has with the state is simple: the state gets nearly 2/3 of the take, and the casino has been making $1.5 million a day - and it’s not even fully open. That money is supposed to be devoted to education, funding the horse racing industry, and gambling addiction programs, so it’s one of the few bright spots in the budget around here.