For David Ige, it’s “No Viva, Las Vegas!”

The Democratic state senator running for governor of Hawaii was recently asked about how he feels about legalizing gambling in the 5oth state. He opposes it.

Well, Nevada journalist Jon Ralston was listening in and accused Ige of “trashing” Sin City. Here’s what Ige said:

“I’ve spoken with many in the visitor industry and they do believe that legalized gambling would be devastating to their industry. I’ve talked with hotel owners who lament about the fact that, you know, when you see people traveling to Las Vegas, they seem to be excited to leave. And when you see them returning, they’re all disappointed because they did not enjoy the experience. You know, versus people coming to Hawaii are really excited to be in Hawaii, and most importantly, when they’re leaving, they are happy and excited to have visited here. That’s the visitors that we want. That’s the industry that we want.” 

Ralston sarcastically termed the remarks “genius.”

Ralston did not explain the context for the question. Ige was asked, given the huge chunk of the state budget that goes to salaries and benefits for public workers, whether the state shouldn’t look to other revenue streams to help pay its bills.

Ige said that gaming in the islands would destroy our island culture, brand and essence. Republican Duke Aiona and independent Mufi Hannemann also said they opposed gaming here.

Only Libertarian Jeff Davis said he is open to the idea. As Civil Beat reported, Davis said gambling would be acceptable here as long it takes place on cruise ships off shore rather than on our shores so that the “dark side” of gaming would not reach our keiki.

Hawaii is one of only two states — the other is Utah — that allows no form of gambling.

State Sen. David Ige.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat