FLORENCE — Northern Kentucky continues to be one of the leading areas of the state in support of legalized gambling at thoroughbred racetracks.

        Sixty-five percent of Northern Kentucky adults favor video slot machines and other computerized gaming at racetracks, according to a Bluegrass Poll conducted recently by the Louisville Courier-Journal.

        That figure is slightly lower than in March, when the percentage of local adults supporting gambling at racetracks was 72 percent. Statewide, 55 percent of adults favor slots at the tracks, nearly unchanged from 56 percent in March.

        The results were based on a telephone poll of 803 adults conducted Aug. 30 to Sept. 4. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percent.

        Northern Kentucky's emphasis on business growth, its proximity to legalized gambling boats in Indiana, and the high density of the region's Catholic population — a denomination that hasn't opposed gambling as much as Protestant denominations more prevalent in southeastern Kentucky — are factors that may contribute to the area's support of the slots.

        The poll did not attempt to determine the reasons for respondents' support.

        Bob Elliston, president of Turfway Park in Florence and a leading advocate of expanding gambling to racetracks, said he was encouraged by the poll's findings.

        Mr. Elliston, the operators of Churchill Downs and Keeneland, and others failed earlier this year to convince the Kentucky General Assembly to pass a racetrack gambling bill.

        But Mr. Elliston said the industry continues to press its case with state lawmakers and will use the poll to show there is support for allowing racetracks to offer gambling as a way to compete with riverboat casinos in Indiana and racetrack casinos in West Virginia.

        Even with strong local support for gambling, there remains stiff opposition to allowing tracks to run gambling halls, most of it coming from a coalition of church groups, anti-gambling organizations and conservative lawmakers.

        The poll found 29 percent of Northern Kentucky adults opposed to slots at the racetracks. Statewide, the number was 38 percent.

        But local support of gambling is still among the strongest in the state, the new poll found. Only Louisville, where 67 percent of adults favoring slots was higher than Northern Kentucky.

        Legalized casino gambling has the lowest support in south-central Kentucky, the portion of the state that touches the Bible Belt. There, only 38 percent favor gambling while 48 percent oppose it.

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