Gov. Cuomo and his top aides, reacting to a just-completed secret poll, are increasingly worried that the constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot to legalize casino gambling will be defeated, The Post has learned.
Insiders said Cuomo has made it clear that his personal prestige is on the line over the amendment vote and that he intends to go all-out in the coming days to try to assure the measure is approved.
“If the amendment is defeated, Cuomo is defeated, and that’s not the way the governor intends to kick off his re-election campaign for next year,’’ said an administration insider.
The secret polling data, a source close to the pro-casino effort said, shows an “ongoing loss of support’’ for the plan to legalize up to seven full-blown commercial casinos, with the first group to be built in the Catskills and other upstate areas.
While the most recent poll showed a narrow majority supporting the amendment, the number had dropped from previous polls.
“The movement is definitely in the wrong direction, and the governor and his people know it,’’ said the source.
An even more worrisome finding in the poll was that those who oppose the constitutional change feel far more strongly about their views then those who favor it — meaning the “anti” group is more likely to vote on the measure.
In addition, the lack of a hotly contested mayoral race is expected to suppress a strongly pro-gambling New York City election turnout.
“NY Jobs Now,’’ a coalition of union, business and gambling interests, including the state’s existing racetrack “racinos,’’ is scrambling to raise funds for a costly last-minute media blitz to encourage a pro-amendment vote, it was learned.
A key reason that support for casinos is slipping is the recent disturbing revelation that Cuomo aides were involved in altering the language used on the ballot to make it more attractive to voters, a second source close to pro-amendment forces said.
“Cuomo’s attempt to wire up the vote appears to have backfired, with so many negative stories and editorials,’’ the source said.
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The floundering Moreland Act Commission named by Cuomo to investigate alleged but unspecified political corruption fired off a series of subpoenas to many lawmakers and their private law firms last week, seeking proof of ongoing conflicts of interest. They’re not taking it lying down.
“The legislators and their law firms are furious. They see this as nothing more than fishing expeditions that invade their lawyer-client relationships, and they’re getting ready to respond in court,’’ said a source close to the Legislature.
Cuomo, who earlier this year claimed the Legislature was the best in the nation, reversed course after US Attorney Preet Bharara brought indictments against several lawmakers and accused Albany of having a “show-me-the-money culture.’’
Then, after Cuomo failed to win the Legislature’s approval for what he contended was a badly needed ethics-reform package, he unleashed the Moreland Commission.
State lawmakers, who are allowed to hold outside jobs, have maintained that Cuomo’s commission doesn’t have a legal right to investigate the Legislature because it is a separate branch of government.
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Former President Bill Clinton will be the featured attraction Wednesday in Nassau County at a fund-raiser for county-executive hopeful Tom Suozzi — even as Cuomo refuses to endorse him.
“Suozzi’s been endorsed by everyone from Bill Clinton to [US Sens.] Schumer and Gillibrand but the governor won’t do it?’’ railed a leading Nassau County Democrat.
Cuomo last week was hammered as a traitor to Democrats for failing to back Suozzi, in a blog posting on the influential leftist Daily Kos Web site. The headline: “Gov. Andrew Cuomo, R-NY, betrays us again, Long Island edition.’’
Many Nassau Democrats privately accuse Cuomo of favoring the re-election of Republican Executive Ed Mangano, with whom he has had close relations.
Insiders say Cuomo, as the state’s top Democrat, has no choice but to eventually endorse Suozzi, but they don’t expect him to do so with any enthusiasm or commitment of support.