Many of the decisions of this November’s election have eliminated the possibility of the measures being passed, with little left to argue. A few exceptions exist, as the protests in Los Angeles against the passing of Proposition 8 and the ban of gay marriage demonstrate. More centralized to the continental US, Ohio’s proposal for a casino was also voted against, the leaves behind the possibility of the issue being put to the vote again.

Unsurprisingly, the most powerful opposition against the casino proposal came from competition, unusual in that the closet competition is an entire state away. Penn National Gaming financed the loudest complaints, in efforts to protect business of their Argosy Casino in neighboring Indiana. The Ohio casino was advertised to have the potential of bringing in more than $200 million to the state in addition to 10,000 new jobs; both benefits are shut down with the rejection of the measure by Ohio voters. With about half of the votes being counted, it because obvious the measure was voted against with about a 2-1 ratio of “no” tallied.

The final push, it’s been speculated, was the exposure of wording loopholes that would prevent the casino from having to pay state taxes on the millions of projected dollars. Fine print in the bill stated that if the casino were to be run by a native American tribe, state lawmakers would not be able to unilaterally impose taxes on the new establishment, as it would be then considered a ‘tribal casino.’ The ad campaigns paid for by Penn National Gaming made sure this detail was well-known, and it is thought to be the nail in the coffin for the Ohio casino.

However, hope remains. Because the wording of the bill is the most important aspect of the issue’s rejection, if the measure were to be reworded to ensure state taxes on the establishment’s income, it’s plausible that a different vote would come in. During the interim, however, Indiana’s Argosy Casino will have to do.