Arkansas voters say 'yes' to casinos in 4 counties

As reported by AP News, voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment that allows the casinos at the Southland dog track in West Memphis and the Oaklawn horse track in Hot Springs. The measure also legalizes casinos in Pope and Jefferson counties.

The Cherokee and Quapaw tribes in Oklahoma spent more than $4 million combined campaigning for the measure, which supporters have touted as a way to keep gambling revenue in Arkansas. The state Supreme Court last month rejected two lawsuits that tried to get the proposal disqualified from the ballot.

An Arkansas Supreme Court justice has won re-election after facing a barrage of attack ads and mailers from a Washington-based conservative group.

Justice Courtney Goodson defeated challenger and Department of Human Services Chief Counsel David Sterling in the non-partisan race.

The Republican State Leadership Committee spent $1.2 million on TV ads and mailers in the weeks leading up to the election. Goodson portrayed her re-election bid as a referendum on outside groups’ involvement in judicial races. She had sued to stop the RSLC’s mailers and ads. She lost her bid for chief justice two years ago after facing similar outside attacks.

The group also had run ads promoting Sterling that linked him to President Donald Trump and Gov. Asa Hutchinson.