Many city leaders, including Mayor Levar Stoney, a presumptive candidate for governor in 2025, were ardent supporters, along with local business and civil rights groups. They also poured around $10 million into a political committee that advocated for the project. The developers made big promises about the job growth, tax revenue and entertainment options the facility would provide. The development plan was a joint venture between Urban One, a publicly traded media company, and Churchill Downs, the Louisville-based operator of the Kentucky Derby that also runs gambling establishments across the country. The project - branded the Richmond Grand Resort and Casino - was proposed for a former tobacco company site just off Interstate 95 in south Richmond. But Richmond residents voted down the project then and did so again Tuesday. Despite a high-dollar lobbying push, Richmond voters on Tuesday rejected for a second time a ballot measure that would have opened the door to a proposed casino resort in Virginia's capital city.ĭevelopers first tried in 2021, after the state Legislature paved the way for five casinos around the state if voters first gave their signoff.