The Danville Electoral Board today certified the results of the special City Council election and the casino gaming referendum. The final results produced no surprises.
In the race for City Council, Bryant Hood won the seat with 7,163 votes or 38.78 percent of the ballots cast. Former councilman Fred Shanks garnered 7,018 votes or 38.0 percent of the ballots cast. Petrina Carter took 22.66 percent of the votes for a total of 4,185.
In the casino referendum, 13,151 ballots or 68.73 percent of the votes were cast in favor of a gaming establishment and 5,983 ballots or 31.27 percent cast against it. A majority of voters in each precinct favored casino gaming, with the slimmest margin being 62.53 percent in Ward Nine; and the largest, 83.15 percent in Ward 14.
The Electoral Board certified the votes after meeting today to review 161 provisional ballots. Of the total, the board approved 138 ballots.
The official results are available on the Virginia Department of Elections website.
A total of 19,549 voters or 68.8 percent of the 28,397 registered voters in the city cast ballots in the general election.
In the City Council race, Hood, Shanks and Carter were vying to fill the unexpired term of Adam Tomer, who resigned his seat effective June 30 because he was moving out of the city. Hood will finish Tomer’s term, which is slated to end June 30, 2022. Former mayor Sam Kushner has been filling the seat on an interim basis following an appointment in July by City Council. Kushner did not seek to keep the seat.
With the passage of the casino gaming referendum, plans will move forward to develop a gaming establishment to be built at the former Dan River Mills industrial complex in Schoolfield.
In September, Danville city and Caesars Entertainment officials signed a development agreement for a resort casino at the site should the referendum pass. Caesars will pay $5 million to buy the site by the end of the year. Also, Caesars will pay $15 million to the city within 30 days.
The resort, expected to open in 2023, would include multiple restaurants and bars, a hotel with 300 four-star guest rooms, a 35,000-square-foot conference center, a 2,500-seat live-entertainment venue, a pool and a spa.
Based on estimates provided by Caesars and reviewed by Convergence Strategy Group, it is expected that, by year three of operation, this project will produce $22 million in state-collected gaming tax revenue remitted to the City of Danville, $12 million in supplemental payments to the City of Danville, and $4.2 million in meals, sales, hotel/motel, and property taxes.