JEFFERSON CITY — A gambling casino at the Lake of the Ozarks is not in the cards for now.
Supporters of building a gambling palace at the mid-Missouri vacation spot failed to collect enough valid signatures to put the question on the November general election ballot, the Missouri Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday.
Despite spending more than $2.5 million on a Washington, D.C.-based signature collection firm, the casino expansion plan backed by a local developer and a casino operator fell thousands short of the amount needed in three of the state’s eight congressional districts, a review of state and county voter files found.
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Supporters say they are reviewing their options and could attempt an appeal of the decision.
“We are confident we have collected enough signatures to quality for the November ballot. Meanwhile, our legal team is assessing our next steps. We are confident that after all the signatures are counted and verified we will appear on the November 2024 ballot,†said Ed Rhode, a spokesman for the organizers.
In May, supporters said they had submitted more than 320,000 signatures collected to convince voters to change the state constitution and pave the way for a facility that would “provide a year-round economic boost to the region.â€
To get on the ballot, circulators needed to collect a minimum of 170,000 signatures across six of the eight state congressional districts.
The effort to add a 14th casino to Missouri’s fleet of gambling facilities was bankrolled by casino giant Bally’s and lake-area real estate developer Gary Prewitt. Campaign finance records show they each chipped in $2.1 million to get the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot.
The state constitution currently only allows casinos to be constructed either on the Mississippi or Missouri rivers. Only 13 casinos are allowed to operate in the state.
The lake casino was envisioned as a resort on the portion of the Osage River below the Bagnell Dam on the south side of U.S. 54.
The project was expected to create 500 construction jobs and more than 700 permanent jobs. Tax revenue from bettors would be earmarked for early-childhood literacy programs in public schools.
The proposed casino, however, had opposition from a group linked to the Osage Nation, which also wants to operate a tribal gambling facility on the lake.
A political action committee formed to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment raised $388,000. Records show it was financed largely by Strategic Capital Consulting, a politically connected lobbying operation representing the Oklahoma-based tribe. The firm is headed by former House Speaker Steve Tilley, who is a close adviser to Gov. Mike Parson.
The Osage Nation has been working for years to build a casino in Missouri. In 2021, the tribe announced it had submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Interior for approval of a casino near the town of Lake Ozark.
At the time, the tribe said it hoped a federal decision on whether the proposal complies with the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would take no more than two years.
If the tribal application is approved, the Department of Interior would transfer the casino land into federal trust with tribal sovereignty to the land and casino gaming rights that are exempt from Missouri laws and regulations.
Under its plan, the tribe is attempting to reestablish and expand upon its cultural presence and ancestral ties to the region. In addition to a casino, plans include a convention hotel, an entertainment complex and a tribal office.