With 72 of 73 precincts reporting in the Richmond casino vote on Nov. 7, 60.19% of electors said “no” to the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino. Only 39.81% had voted in favor of the $562 million project proposed for Virginia’s fifth and final retail casino.
That means the casino lost by 20.38% in the unofficial election results, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
The results were still coming in at 9:30 p.m., hours after polls closed at 7 p.m. today.
However, the Richmond casino vote revealed 41,611 of the city’s 159,318 eligible voters had already said “no” to the following question:
Shall casino gaming be permitted at a casino gaming establishment in the City of Richmond, Virginia, at 2001 Walmsley Boulevard and 4700 Trenton Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23234, as may be approved by the Virginia Lottery Board?
Yes
No
If voters had approved the ballot measure, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) and media company Urban One planned to build the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino.
By 9 p.m. today, several local news publications — including WTVR — were running this concession statement from the casino’s marketing campaign Richmond Wins, Vote Yes:
We are proud to have run a community-centered campaign to create more opportunities for residents of this great city to rise into the middle class. We are grateful to the thousands of Richmonders who voted for good jobs and a stronger city, especially those in Southside who poured their hearts into this project.
Meanwhile, the public-facing portions of the campaign had no such notice. Three campaign emails arrived today to those who subscribed for updates. Facebook housed 15 posts and reels, including those notifying voters about free rides to the polls. There were also five posts on X, eight on Instagram, and comments on three YouTube shorts today.
One of the shorts even referenced the fact that today’s vote was the second time around for the casino proposal. That one, then named One Casino and Resort, was defeated by 2% of Richmond voters.