Maine Casino Project Backed By Weight Of Brexit Lobbying Tacticians

PORTLAND, ME — Convincing British voters to abandon the European Union, an institution established in part as a bulwark against centuries of brutal wars, was a piece of cake; how difficult could it be to convince Maine residents to approve a casino?

Well, one firm is about to find out. Goddard Gunster, which helped sell UK voters on the idea of Brexit, has joined the fight for public approval of a casino in the south of Maine. (For more information on this and other local stories, subscribe to the Portland Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Progress for Maine PAC has reported paying over $80,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based firm.

The leading organization that campaigned for the United Kingdom to exit the European Union hired the firm, calling it one of the world's leading referendum and issue management firms. Maine Public reports that one of the firm's partners, Dwayne Bickford, is the Maine GOP's former executive director.

Voters are set to consider a November ballot question that ask voters whether they would allow a developer to build a York County casino

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images