we already voted for slots. The people moving to the new houses around Arundel Mills and its many shopping centers essentially moved to a commercial area. They knew when they moved there what it was like. Slots are no worse than muggings constantly occurring in a mall parking lot. It was always my intention to vote for slots at AM. After all the deceitful advertisements paid for by people not even in AA County I was even more determined. All political advertisements should be banned, and in particular, these were offensive and perhaps angered undecided people enough for them to wish to make a statement.

I am also surprised at the margin, and that the referendum passed. If slots fatigue hasn't set in for this state I don't know when it will. After the dust has settled, from Ehrlich through to the second term of O'Malley, slots have been on the ballot or been a hot button issue on election day in this state. Interesting to hear Franchot the other day filing this whole debate under 'Much Ado About Nothing' as he tries to figure out how to really balance the state's budget. I can't help feeling that after we beat this horse to death...now we get to finally see if it can run and start paying us back for the time and energy we've spent.

I totally agree! I am a Baltimore County resident and I got fed up with these ads back in September. I found something particularly annoying about them, maybe it was just the volume or the fact that it was an AA county issue. Now I can watch Judge Judy and Judge Joe Brown in peace. Slots people be gone!

Maybe people have been to that mall, and seen some of the hoodlums that hang out there. At Least there will be an age limiton who is at the slots parlor, and maybe some people, who live in Maryland and commute to any of the state around us, will spend some money in Maryland.

I'll vote against anything where they try to use "moms protecting children" as their selling point.

Plese people get with it about crime in the lots...police will be there more now, security at slots etc...will be safer there noiw then before

I feel like there has been a bait and switch. I voted for slots in the beginning even though I am not a gambler for two reasons - to support the MD horse industry and to bring jobs to areas that most need it. Now it looks like slots may put a nail in the coffin of horse racing in MD and the area that gets the casino is a place that already offers a number of employment opportunities. I was uneasy when I voted for slots in the election a couple years back because I found the wording on the ballot confusing, but trusted the intent. The current outcome is very disappointing. I feel cheated and feel MD may have been short-changed.

The racing industry blew it. I love horse racing and go a couple of times a year, but this time they blew it. When slots was approved in MD, the Jockey club should have been all over this and been the first to open.

Jay, you failed to mention this was a loss for O'Maley since he was against slots @ the mall & for them @ Laurel.

Jeff: That's what he said. But as I and the Sun's editorial page have suggested, he was kind of pandering to the voters near the mall. I doubt he cared that much. If I were him today I would be thrilled about the mall-slots revenue, which will start flowing a lot more quickly than it would have from Laurel or some alternative site. Thanks for the comment. JH

Winning Factor: Mall friendly tenants and Destination Tenants. I thought it was a great idea to 'announce' tenants for the slots complex and Cordish found some great ones (as they usually do). Mr. Cordish, you had them at Cheesecake Factory.

@ Mary Ann, don't worry about the race tracks, they will get 7% of slot revenue up to $100 million annually. And they get 2.5% of slot revenue up to $40 million for track renewal for 8 years.

Not bad for being on the 'losing side' so to speak.

The Maryland Jockey Club should have used it money on paying the application fee in the first place, then this would not have been an issue. If MJC really goes through with it's threat to close live racing in Laurel and to close the Bowie practice facility, then it should no longer be entitled to 7% of the slots money.

I have to agree with Gina. The ads on tv and radio this past election was too much. I am just glad that it is over and we do not have to deal with it for awhile.

I totally agree with Martin. If Racing in Md was really the goal of the Jockey club then they would not have a problem selling to Cordish to keep them going. As it stands however I really do not see the intelligence of Md Horse racing getting such a large cut of the slots money when they want to cut horse racing by 80% in the state as a way to get back at the voters. I cant say that I really don't care about horse racing anyhow the state does not make much money off of it and it has been on a downward spiral for a longtime now. Delaware & W.VA. would both have been closed or close to it by now if they were not propped up by their slots revenue. I am really getting tired of our government keeping bad companies alive that should have closed long ago.

Now.. When the FOP calls me.. I can tell them to kiss off they have slots.

When the firefighters call.. and ask for donations for the widows and orphans fund.. I can tell them to "eat me" they have slots.

When the teacher tells me to send 4 boxes of tissues and 100+ pencils to the school.. I can ask why you have slots buy them yourself.

Has anyone ever thought of putting slots at Pimlico Race course, since the Baltimore City license has not been awarded? It would serve to revitalize the horse racing industry as well as the surrounding Pimlico neighborhood. Of course, it would require a great deal of PR to convince people that they won't get murdered, stabbed or shot on their way into the venue. With the right spin, it could work and work well both for the city and the horse racing industey that is suffering because Laurel didn't get the slots.

We didn't go there very frequently, but I have paid my last visit to Arundel Mills. It's already too hard to find a parking place and I'm not going to put up with even more traffic and parking issues when a new venue is added. Hope the gamblers enjoy it but I won't be there.

I think you underestimate the dislike for the Maryland Jockey Club. For those of us who love horse-racing, we've seen them pull every dollar they could out of the tracks and put it into their own pockets (especially the DeFrancis family and Frank Stronach). It wasn't slots fatigue, it was Maryland Jockey Club fatigue. I also agree that people know that the Cordish Company develops terrific properties - and I agree announcing who's coming to the parlor was brilliant. Can't wait for Bobby Flay's.

Somehow, I don't understand why the MJC thought they could "back door" this issue and wind up getting slots at Laurel. They blew it by not playing by the rules. You gotta pay to play!

Russett was and is consistently against slots in our area. If other communities, businesses or special interests made assumptions and thought that our community would lie down and let slots move into Laurel Park without a fight, they were wrong.

Unfortunately, rather than listening to Russett (a community of 13,000 people), many chose to listen to those smaller communities near the mall and their corporate backers, completely ignoring the fact that the mall communities voted FOR slots in the prior referendum while we voted AGAINST.

Bottom line, whether you support gambling or not, it's always a good idea to listen to your neighbors. Russett roared back on this issue, don't make us do it again.

So not true, are you telling me since most new developments are mixed ones (which include areas around Columbia, Annapolis, and White Marsh Malls) which include malls, restaurants, office space, etc. all people should assume slots parlors could be in those areas? I can tell you if that’s the case, houses in those areas (especially townhouses and single-family) would hardly sell. However, even though I was against Question A (in fact, I was against the November 2008 referendum which would have stopped ALL Slots parlors in the state), I agree with you in that all political advertisements should be banned.

I don't know about other Marylanders, but I'm getting tired of hearing about horse racing. What makes that such an important industry to MD? Maybe we should start thinking about some of the other industries that could use some help.