The North vs. South fight over casinos in New Jersey is back. Here’s what to know.

Jeff Payne has been making a 40-minute commute to work at Caesars in Atlantic City from Sicklerville in Camden County for a quarter of a century.

And he’s been working in Atlantic City even longer in various casino jobs. Currently a server at Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, Payne said it would be an insult to allow casinos in North Jersey.

“As a South Jerseyan, why do they want to turn their backs on us? That’s the way I look at it: ‘OK, to hell with Atlantic City! We’re going to go to North Jersey now,’” Payne, 62, said.

The idea of allowing casinos outside of Atlantic City was overwhelmingly voted down by New Jersey voters a decade ago, but some North Jersey legislators are making a renewed push now that three new casinos have been approved next door in New York City.

Proponents say North Jersey casinos will keep the gambling revenue in-state, but South Jersey lawmakers and stakeholders are warning that it could be a devastating hit by pulling business away from the region, where tens of thousands of workers are employed by the casino industry.

The fight could force Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill to play referee between factions of her party in the North and the South.

State Sen. Vin Gopal, one of the legislators pushing for North Jersey casinos, was the chair of Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign. But Sherrill has promised South Jersey that she would be an ally.

Sherrill has declined to publicly comment on the idea, but Gopal said he spoke with members of her administration and they haven’t ruled it out.

“Kind of like a wait-and-see approach,” the Monmouth County lawmaker said. “I don’t believe they’re opposed. I don’t believe they’re for it. I believe they want to do their due diligence, which I appreciate and respect.”

Gopal and Democratic Sen. Paul Sarlo, whose district includes parts of Bergen and Passaic Counties, introduced a bill earlier this year to create a ballot measure to allow casinos at Monmouth Park Racetrack and Meadowlands Racetrack, where sports betting has been allowed since 2018.

The bill would need to be passed by 3/5 of the legislature to get on the ballot this fall, or approved by the majority of the legislature both this year and next year to get on next year’s ballot. Then the majority of voters would need to decide whether to make it law.

During the 36 years he’s worked for Caesars, Payne has seen Atlantic City’s highs as well as its lows, like during the 2008 financial crisis, Hurricane Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry also took hits when casinos opened up in surrounding states like Pennsylvania, but “Atlantic City always found a way,” Payne said.

But putting casinos in North Jersey would be detrimental, he said, and would surely fuel the North-South divide in the state.

“Put gaming up there in North Jersey, it’s just gonna be a real mess and a real s— show — pardon my language — for the state,” he said. “South Jersey, you know, we do a lot. But we certainly don’t get the recognition.”

In 2016, an overwhelming 77% of voters in the state rejected a ballot measure that would allow casinos outside of Atlantic City. The highest level of opposition came from Atlantic County — home to Atlantic City — with nearly 94% against it. Nearly 78% of voters opposed it in Monmouth County and nearly 73% were against it in Bergen, the counties where the new casinos would go.

And a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll conducted last month found that about half of New Jersey voters oppose the idea, a similar response to polls in 2014 and 2016.

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey campaigned against the measure in 2016 and still opposes it.

Hilary Chebra, the director of government affairs for the business group, said on Friday that the casino industry in Atlantic City is “a cornerstone of the South Jersey economy” and North Jersey casinos would significantly divert money from the region.

Atlantic City casino licensees’ gross operating profits went down nearly 4% in 2025, according to an attorney general office report released Wednesday

Donna DeCaprio, the president of UNITE HERE Local 54, a union that represents about 10,000 hospitality workers in Atlantic City casinos, said the smallest three casinos and about 4,000 workers in Atlantic City would immediately be at risk if casinos open in North Jersey.

She doesn’t believe competition with New York City casinos is legitimate enough of a concern compared to the impact North Jersey casinos would have on the South Jersey economy.

“The impact that North Jersey will have is far greater than New York,” DeCaprio said. “We have a lot of North Jersey customers that hop on the parkway and come to Atlantic City. If the drive is cut in half for them to go to the Meadowlands, you know, they may choose to do that.”

And a little more than half of gaming in New Jersey is done online anyway, she said.

But Gopal argues that New York competition will take revenue from Atlantic City no matter what, and it’s better that the money stays in state.

“I can drive an hour to Queens and go gamble, and it’s going to take me an hour and 40 to go to Atlantic City,” he said.

“This is an inevitable situation,” he added. “Obviously, if the casinos weren’t coming to New York, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but they are. And to just ignore it and pretend like it is what it is, it’s just going to continue to lead to Atlantic City’s demise if we don’t do something.”

His proposal would direct 10% of state revenue from the new casinos to Atlantic City, as well as allocations for property tax relief, extraordinary special education aid, the pension system, cost-of-living adjustments for state employees — and to subsidize the horse racing industry.

Payne believes the power of the Shore has kept up an appeal in Atlantic City that can’t be replicated up North — with restaurants, spas, golf courses, concerts, restaurants, and of course, the beach. But he also believes the state hasn’t reinvested enough in the city, a sentiment shared by South Jersey legislators.

A bipartisan group of 15 South Jersey state legislators and three members of Congress wrote a letter to Sherrill, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, and Senate Speaker Nicholas Scutari, arguing that the state should focus its efforts on further diversifying Atlantic City’s offerings to be more family friendly rather than risking the region’s economy while encouraging more gambling.

“As you know, the economic impact of Atlantic City’s gaming industry is felt far outside the city’s borders,” wrote the group of bipartisan lawmakers, including ones who represent Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties. “Tens of thousands of our constituents either work for a casino directly or one of the many vendors that support them.”

They added that they wouldn’t just vote “no,” but “hell no” to the idea.

“If we’re really going to try to turn Atlantic City around, we can’t be doing things that are going to essentially handicap the city itself,” Assembly member Cody Miller, a Gloucester County Democrat who signed the letter, said in an interview.