Online Casino Home » News » March 2025

Democrats at odds on casino

Democrats in Bridgeport seemed to be in revolt against their party last week. Anti-casino politicians, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry, should be punished at the polls, they said at a pro-gaming rally Wednesday.

Democratic President Pro Tem of the Bridgeport City Council James Holloway took on Curry and running mate, Senate Majority Leader George Jepsen, D-Stamford, most directly.

"The top of the ticket doesn't want a casino. What does that tell you?" he asked. "I'm going to support the person that supports a casino, if he is a scalawag or not."

It was unclear last week whether those threats would be carried out, but it signaled a possible rift among Democrats as Curry attempts to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. John G. Rowland in the fall election.

The Trumbull-based Golden Hill Paugussetts promise to build a gambling resort in Bridgeport if the tribe is recognized by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and granted the right to negotiate for a gaming facility.

In addition, the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Kent is also awaiting a decision on federal recognition from the BIA. And the Eastern Pequot tribe was recognized by the BIA in March -- a decision likely to be appealed by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Greenwich.

Curry downplayed comments made at the Wednesday pro-gaming rally in Bridgeport sponsored by the Friends of the Golden Hill Paugussetts. Curry was not at the rally but was read Holloway's statement Friday.

"He ought to be ashamed," Curry said. Curry then referred to Rowland's 1995 effort to bring a casino to Bridgeport, saying the city "has gone to this dance with John Rowland many times before and it has brought them nothing but misery."

The 1995 effort died in the state Legislature, with Curry's running mate Jepsen as one of its opponents. Curry and Jepsen have said they are against the expansion of casinos in Bridgeport and in the state because they would create only low-paying jobs and cause traffic problems that would be economically harmful to the entire region.

Rowland's campaign spokeswoman, Nuala Forde, said the Republican governor is awaiting the outcome of decisions by the BIA on tribal recognition before commenting on a possible new casino in Bridgeport. It is a federal matter now, she said, and Rowland must remain impartial in the event of later negotiations.

Political leaders in Bridgeport say casinos could be a central concern for many voters. A new casino offers economic development for their beleaguered city, they say, and it is wrong for politicians to spoil that.

Forty-eight percent of Fairfield County Democrats support a casino in Bridgeport, according to a poll commissioned by Greenwich Time and The (Stamford) Advocate and conducted by the University of Connecticut Center for Survey Research and Analysis in Stamford. The poll was conducted from March 27 to March 9 and has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points. The poll showed only 35 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of unaffiliated voters support a Bridgeport casino.

The poll also showed that while support for a casino among Bridgeport residents is as high as 62 percent, about that same percentage of residents in Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan, Darien and Norwalk is against one.

State Rep. Ernest Newton, D-Bridgeport, said Democrats who oppose a casino have reason to be concerned. Newton is strongly pro-casino and plans to meet with Curry soon about the issue.

"I think it is going to be a key issue in the upcoming election in the state and in Bridgeport," Newton said. "Because I think you've got people out there who believe in the Indians who are raring to go."

Jepsen said he isn't looking to switch sides.

"I support gun control," Jepsen said. "I don't sit around worrying about losing a few Democrats who are National Rifle Association members. At some point, you have to do what is right. I'm not going to sell southwestern Connecticut down the river to cater to a few votes in Bridgeport."

Curry said he hopes to find "common ground" with Bridgeport leaders on other issues such as property tax reform, transportation and economic development.