GOP voters split on whether to expand gambling

Republicans were divided on allowing profits from casino gambling to fund education Tuesday but on the cusp of overwhelmingly backing an effort to outlaw abortion with no exceptions.

Democrats, meanwhile, endorsed tax breaks for energy and locally made products.

These questions and the other items that appeared on each party's primary ballot were a lot like glorified survey questions: They don't have the weight of the law behind them, and the outcomes may not shake any long-standing beliefs. But the votes could measure the electorate's support for a host of contentious issues.

The most controversial item on either party's ballot was a GOP question that asked if Georgia should "have casino gambling with funds going to education?" It's the first statewide question on gambling since voters approved the lottery in 1992, and it was posed as the state explores new options to fund the cash-strapped HOPE scholarship program.

State lottery officials last month approved online ticket sales for the first time, and Atlanta developer Dan O'Leary wants to build a $1 billion gambling resort in Gwinnett with video lottery devices that could pump $350 million each year into the HOPE program.

The question has split party leaders, as Gov. Nathan Deal has said he opposes it while Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers voted for it. Early returns showed voters seemed equally divided.

"It would help education," said Mickey Simerson, a 69-year-old from Canton who supported the ballot question. Other voters said they worried that expanding gambling could erode family values and increase crime.

Republican voters also backed a question on whether the state constitution should be amended to provide the "paramount right to life is vested in each innocent human being from his or her earliest biological beginning" regardless of age, health and other conditions. Such a move would effectively ban abortion.

And GOP voters also signaled they wanted to expand gun rights to allow active duty soldiers under 21 to obtain a Georgia weapons license. The vote was much closer on whether to require voters who want to cast ballots in a primary election to register their political affiliation at least 30 days before a contest. Republican voters were nearly evenly split on the question in early returns.

Democratic voters, meanwhile, indicated they were unwilling to empower the state to overrule local school boards to create charter schools in local districts. And voters were on the path to endorse a pair of tax credits.

One would create an income tax credit for home energy costs "to support the economic security of our families." The other would reduce sales taxes on Georgia-made products to support local business.

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