Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ohio became the 13th U.S. state to allow casinos, as voters approved gaming halls in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

The plan passed by a vote of 1.6 million to 1.4 million, according to the Associated Press. Penn National Gaming Inc., the Pennsylvania-based horse-racing track and casino operator that spent at least $16.4 million promoting the ballot measure, said in an October conference call that it hopes to open gambling venues in Columbus and Toledo by late 2012.

The measure succeeded where four previous efforts had failed. Backers emphasized the 34,000 jobs the casinos may bring to a state where the unemployment rate was 10.8 percent, a percentage point higher than the national figure, as recently as August.

The decision will add about $4.25 a share to Penn National when casinos open in three or four years, Brian McGill, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, said in an interview before the vote. The shares rose $2.11, or 8.1 percent, to $26.31 at 10:39 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock gained 23 percent this year before today.

Penn National and Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc., contributed $31 million of the $31.7 million raised by the campaign to win support for the ballot measure through Oct. 24, according to records maintained by the Ohio Secretary of State. Gilbert’s Rock Ventures Partnership, which owns the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers, plans to build the Cincinnati and Cleveland sites.

Opponents, who defeated a gaming measure last year and three other times since 1990, said they feared that voters will never see the jobs and $643 million in annual tax revenue the plan’s backers promised.

Revenue Raiser

Gambling has dominated Ohio’s politics since July, when Governor Ted Strickland, a first-term Democrat, and the Legislature adopted a budget counting on $933 million from the installation of 17,500 slot machines at seven racetracks.

That plan collapsed in September when the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that opponents should have a chance to put the slots issue on the statewide ballot next year. To replace the lost revenue, Strickland asked lawmakers to rescind an $844 million income-tax cut that took effect Jan. 1.

The Democratic-controlled House approved that plan in October. It’s awaiting action in the Republican-led Senate.

Penn National has spent at least $54 million lobbying in Ohio since last year. In 2008, it spent $38 million opposing plans for a casino that company officials feared would draw business from its Argosy facility in neighboring Indiana.

Casino Opponent

Opposition to the measure was largely financed by MTR Gaming Group Inc., the Chester, West Virginia-based operator of the Mountaineer Casino in Chester; Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie, Pennsylvania; and Scioto Downs in Columbus, Ohio.

The racetracks and gaming centers would lose business to the new casinos, MTR said in its Aug. 10 earnings report for the quarter ended June 30. MTR and Jacobs Entertainment Inc. of Golden, Colorado, which are both headed by Colorado businessman Jeffrey P. Jacobs, contributed $5.8 million of the $5.9 million raised by the main opposition lobbying group, TruthPac, through Oct. 24, according to Ohio Secretary of State records.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dunstan McNichol in Trenton, New Jersey, at dmcnichol@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 10:52 EST