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Wednesday, June 19, 2013 | 3:48 a.m.

Posted: 8:43 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012

Developer's hope renewed after gambling measure gets yes vote

Casino
Research obtained by Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland shows Georgians by the thousands, and their money in the millions, are pouring into out-of-state casinos.

NORCROSS, Ga. —

Republican voters were split nearly 50-50 when asked in Tuesday's primary if Georgia should have casino gambling with funds going to education.

Channel 2's Jim Strickland spoke with the man who wants to bring gaming to Gwinnett County about the primary results.

Dan O'Leary wants to put thousands of Lottery-controlled slot machines in a vacant Norcross factory. He told Strickland he was prepared to talk about the defeat of the Republican casino question, had it been defeated, but to him, a razor-thin victory feels more like a landslide.

"We consider it a huge victory," O'Leary said.

The GOP question on casinos funding education passed by less than a percentage point Tuesday night.

For supporters, key victory margins came from Fulton County, at 53 percent; Cherokee County, at 55 percent; and Forsyth County, with 54 percent approval.

For some residents, they are skeptical as to whether it is the right option.

"I have mixed feelings about it. I really don't like casinos, but I like the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship," voter Phyllis Kimbrell said.

In Forsyth County, slot machine aficionado Allison Caldwell has been swimming in booty from out-of-state casinos.

She wants Georgia's anti-gaming governor to take notice.

"You cannot let your own personal beliefs stand in the way of what's best for the state that you're the governor of," Caldwell said.

Gov. Nathan Deal still says no dice.

"The configuration of what I have seen, even with video lottery terminals, looks very much like a casino, and I have said I am not in favor of that," Deal said on Wednesday.

"I'm sure he's got his own reasons for taking the stance that he has. But at the end of the day, the vote that came out, that's a vote of the people," O'Leary said.

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He is inviting the governor to tour the Norcross slot site.

"He wouldn't be the first to flip-flop or change his mind again," said Ed Sutor who runs a Delaware casino, who has invited Deal to tour his casino.

The Delaware casino would serve as a prototype for here in Georgia.

Twenty years ago was the last time Georgians voted statewide on gambling, when they agreed to the creation of the Georgia Lottery. That was also won by a narrow margin.

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