LOUISVILLE — Northern Kentucky leads the state going away in support for expanded legalized gambling at racetracks.

        An overwhelming 72 percent of Northern Kentuckians polled support legalized video slots at racetracks, a Courier-Journal Bluegrass poll reported.

In the pollsters' own words

These are questions asked in the Courier-Journal's Bluegrass State Poll. The poll of 750 adults, taken Tuesday through Friday, has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points:     • Let me ask about several proposals that the Kentucky state legislature in Frankfort is considering. One proposal would allow Kentucky race tracks to operate electronic slot machines year-round so they can compete with casinos in other states, and to help the horse industry and raise money for the state. Do you favor or oppose letting Kentucky race tracks operate slot machines? Do you strongly or only moderately favor/oppose this?     • (Those who were opposed or didn't have an opinion were asked:) What if part of the proceeds from the electronic slot machines were dedicated to specific state programs, such as helping to pay for teacher salary increases or prescription medicine for the poor and elderly? If some of the proceeds from slot machines were dedicated to such uses, would you favor or oppose letting Kentucky race tracks operate slot machines? Do you strongly or only moderately favor/oppose this?     • Some legislators say this whole idea should be a constitutional amendment, which would require Kentucky voters to approve it. Others say the slot machine issue should be dealt with in the legislature. Who do you think should decide this issue of letting Kentucky race tracks operate slot machines ... the voters or the legislature?     • In addition to allowing electronic slot machines at race tracks, would you favor or oppose allowing them at other businesses in Kentucky, such as gas stations, hotels, bars and restaurants?     • Next, please tell me whether or not you have done any of the following things in the past 12 months. Have you bought a lottery ticket in the past 12 months? Bet on a horse race in the past 12 months? Played bingo or bought a pull-tab in the past 12 months?     • Have you gambled on a riverboat casino in the past 12 months? (If “yes”,) was that a riverboat casino on either the Ohio or Mississippi rivers right across from the Kentucky shore?     • In the past 12 months, have you gambled at any other casino in Nevada, Atlantic City or another place where casinos are legal?

        That's 16 percentage points more than the 56 percent majority of Kentuckians who told pollsters they want race tracks to operate electronic slot machines to compete with casinos and raise money for the state, according to the poll.

        Northern Kentucky Rep. Jim Callahan, D—Wilder, is the sponsor of a bill that proposes video gambling at the state's eight existing racetracks, including Turfway Park in Florence.

        An even bigger majority of all Kentuckians — 79 percent — said the decision to put slots at the tracks should be left to the voters, not legislators.

        “I think the voters should decide yes or no, and they should be able to decide where the money goes,” said Carol Harpole, 38, a Graves County homemaker who said she strongly supports track-based slot machines because they could raise money for the state.

        Ms. Harpole said she would like the state's portion of the revenue from slots to go to education and helping the homeless.

        Last week, Indiana's legislature failed to reach an agreement on whether to expand riverboat gambling to include dockside gambling at the three riverboat casinos just down the Ohio River from Northern Kentucky.

        Indiana's legislative session expired without the measure coming to a vote. Kentucky's legislature has until early April to vote on gambling.

        Ohio's legislature recently approved participation in The Big Game, a multistate lottery, but Gov. Bob Taft has said he would veto any bill that proposed further legalization of gambling.

        A 2000 PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated that $1.7 billion in gross revenue leaves Kentucky for states where casino-style gambling is legal.

        In the Kentucky poll, people under age 50 were more likely to support legalizing slot machines, as were men and those with household incomes of $50,000 or more.

        Geographically, overall support was strongest in the poll's Louisville/North Central Kentucky, Bluegrass and Northern Kentucky regions. Those areas include 39 counties in or near the state's most populous areas. The weakest support is in rural parts of the state.

        But people in rural areas still tended to favor slots. South Central Kentucky was the only part of the state where a majority — 51 percent — opposed slot machines.

        And, the group of people who gamble at the riverboat casinos in Indiana or Illinois are among those who most strongly support slots at Kentucky tracks, with 79 percent in favor.

        The poll, taken March 12-15, was based on telephone interviews with 750 people throughout the state and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

        Alex Waldrop, president of Churchill Downs race track, said he was heartened by the results. He said it showed the racing industry was doing a good job through its advertising campaign of educating the public about the benefits of legalizing slot machines.

        “It shows that we are gathering support and gaining momentum. The more they learn about our proposal, the more they like it,” he said.

        For advocates of slot machines, the results were an improvement from a January poll paid for by Kentucky's racing industry and released yesterday. That poll, by the Alexandria, Va.-based Tarrance Group, found that only 44 percent questioned supported “video lottery terminals at Kentucky's existing race track facilities.” Video lottery terminals are a type of slot machine.

        The Tarrance Group poll of 1,000 registered voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

        Nancy Jo Kemper of Citizens Against Gambling Expansion said she wasn't surprised to hear that those who told the Bluegrass Poll they were against slot machines tended to be die-hard opponents.

        “Your poll tends to show that those who oppose it strongly oppose it, and they tend to be churchgoers,” she said, adding that she believes churchgoers are more likely to vote than non-churchgoers.

        Among regular churchgoers, defined as those who attend church weekly or almost every week, a majority — 54 percent — oppose bringing slot machines to Kentucky, the poll found.

        One of them is Lowell Turner, 70, who described himself as a devout Baptist.

        “It's against my religion, to start with,” said Mr. Turner, a retired school principal in Pineville. “It's a sad day when a state has to resort to gambling of any kind to make ends meet.”

        Jane Chiles, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, which opposes track-based slots, said it was noteworthy that so many people wanted voters to decide, even though lawmakers were not considering that option.

        “There is so little conversation in Frankfort about a constitutional amendment, putting it to the voters that way, or even a local referendum,” Ms. Chiles said.

        Mr. Callahan said he doesn't think a vote by the people is necessary because the state's constitution doesn't specifically ban slot-machine gambling.

        “Besides, if you were to say tomorrow that gasoline was going to go up by 5 cents and do you think the people should decide, they'd say yes,” Mr. Callahan said. “By and large, the people want to feel that they have a say. But the fact is that they do elect senators and representatives to represent them.”

        Mr. Callahan's House Bill 768, which would allow Kentucky tracks to have unlimited slot machines, will get its second hearing tomorrow in the House Licensing and Occupations Committee in Frankfort.

        People in Louisville and surrounding areas were somewhat less likely to support slots at the tracks, with 61 percent in favor.

        Herbert Thornton, 50, a substitute music teacher who lives in southeast Jefferson County, thinks there's already enough gambling available in the local market. “We have so many opportunities to go for gambling, I just don't think we need any more,” he said.

        But computer consultant Ed York, 54, said he gambles occasionally at Indiana's riverboat casinos but would stay in the Louisville area if he could play the slots in his home state.

        “I'd much rather spend my money in Kentucky,” said Mr. York, who lives in Jeffersontown. “There's only so much money to go around for entertainment.”

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