Will Atlantic Metropolis Casinos Go Smoke-Free Beneath Gov. Sherrill?
- Smoking stays inside all 9 casinos in Atlantic Metropolis
- Some Atlantic Metropolis on line casino employees hope New Jersey’s subsequent governor, Mikie Sherrill, helps ending the on line casino smoking allowance
US Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) will quickly be relocating from Washington to Trenton to develop into the following governor of New Jersey following her surprisingly simple victory on Election Day over Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
A blackjack gambler blows cigarette smoke towards the supplier. Some Atlantic Metropolis on line casino employees hope New Jersey’s subsequent governor, Mikie Sherrill, will extinguish indoor smoke from the 9 resorts. (Picture: On line casino.org)
Sherrill, now New Jersey governor-elect, has served in Congress since January 2019. The Virginia-born lawyer turned politician has referred to as New Jersey residence since 2010.
In what was predicted to be a detailed gubernatorial race, Sherrill collected virtually 1.8 million votes, or greater than 56% of the ballots solid. Ciattarelli underperformed, with simply 43% of the vote.
For Atlantic Metropolis on line casino workers who want to work in an atmosphere freed from secondhand smoke, Sherrill’s win has largely been seen as a optimistic. Sherrill has acknowledged that she would help laws to amend New Jersey’s 2006 clear indoor air legislation that supplied exemptions for casinos and parimutuel betting amenities.
Smoke and Mirrors?
Sherrill will succeed Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who additionally expressed help for forcing the 9 Atlantic Metropolis casinos to go smoke-free. Murphy, nonetheless, mentioned it’s a sophisticated matter and believes the casinos’ speaking factors, which embody claims {that a} smoking ban would result in diminished gaming income and 1000’s of job losses, should be thought-about.
CEASE, or On line casino Staff Towards Smoking Results, disputes these assertions and argues their well being ought to outweigh income anyway. Final yr, Sherrill mentioned at a city corridor hosted by Fairleigh Dickinson College’s Madison campus that “youthful folks don’t smoke cigarettes” in her help for forcing gamblers to maneuver outdoors to mild up.
CEASE is optimistic that Sherrill, not like Murphy, will observe via in getting a on line casino smoking ban throughout the end line. The grassroots group says it seems ahead to “working with Sherrill to shut the on line casino smoking loophole that has left on line casino employees respiration poisonous air for much too lengthy.”
Atlantic Metropolis isn’t the one place the place on line casino gamblers can smoke cigars and cigarettes. In neighboring Pennsylvania, casinos can designate areas of their gaming flooring for tobacco use.
On line casino smoking is prohibited in different elements of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, together with in Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New York.
On line casino Foyer
The on line casino business has vital affect in Trenton and can foyer state lawmakers to maintain the established order because it pertains to smoking. The On line casino Affiliation of New Jersey (CANJ), which represents the pursuits of the 9 casinos on the state Legislature, will search to defend the business’s smoking privileges.
A pure smoking ban is likely one of the biggest threats to our enterprise,” CANJ President Mark Giannantonio, who can also be the pinnacle of Resorts, advised North Jersey final yr.
A CANJ-commissioned research concluded that 2,500 on line casino jobs could possibly be reduce if a smoking ban is carried out in Atlantic Metropolis.
In-person on line casino income was down 1.1% in 2024. The market has improved in 2025, with gross gaming income from bodily slots and desk video games up 2.5% via September. The casinos have gained $2.2 billion down the shore via 9 months.
