Will New Jersey Ban Smoking in Its Casinos - and Accelerate a National Thread?
From approval of a state referendum in 1976 to authorize the first casinos outside of Nevada, to another trailblazing approval 35 years later to legalize sports betting, New Jersey historically has been at the epicenter of changes in the U.S. gaming industry.
So if supporters of an effort to completely ban smoking in all casinos in Atlantic City are successful, it could create a snowball effect that other states would follow yet again.
But will a change in governorship in January - from Democrat Phil Murphy to Democrat Mikie Sherrill - finally bring the push for a smoking ban across the finish line?
Will Gov. Sherrill be different from Murphy?
Sherrill addressed the debate on more than one occasion in March 2026 - but did not make it clear that she would be any more proactive than Murphy was during his two four-year terms.
Murphy repeatedly said that he would sign a casino smoking ban bill into law if it landed on his desk - but he declined repeated requests to play a lead role on the issue.
A majority of members of the state Senate and Assembly have endorsed a casino smoking ban, but the leadership in each chamber has never moved forward with a full vote on any casino smoking bill.
“I think we need a thoughtful path,” Sherrill recently said about the casino smoking ban debate. “I don’t think a judge needs to direct it. I think the Legislature needs to bring the community together.
"I’ve heard from workers on both sides: those people who want the smoking ban, and people who don’t, and are worried about business.
“I think what we need to do first and foremost is make sure we’re protecting the safety of workers, and at the same time ensuring that we have jobs and we’re continuing to grow the economy here.”
Sherrill was referring to the fact that in January 2026, a state appeals court concluded that a lower court had erred by not developing a full record of facts as to the potential validity of the claim by smoking ban advocates that the exemption for casinos amounted to unequal protection for workers at those properties.
Read More
Smoking ban advocates not satisfied
“While we appreciate Governor Sherrill’s commitment to finding a solution, the time for discussion has passed,” Nicole Vitola, longtime Atlantic City casino worker and co-founder of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), said in a press release.
“For 20 years, casino workers in New Jersey have been the only workers in the state still subjected to toxic secondhand smoke in the workplace.
"Since CEASE was founded, we have testified at hearings, met with casino executives and government leaders, and submitted mountains of evidence that prove without a doubt that indoor smoking poses a critical risk to workers’ health - all while the casino industry falls back on outdated business models and one industry-bought report.
"Should Governor Sherrill follow through on her plan to discuss the issue with the legislature, she will only discover what we already know — that there is bipartisan support for smokefree casinos, and yet there remains a political block to get the bill across the finish line."
Smoking ban advocates point to polling that shows that smoking in the U.S. is at a historical low, as well as the relative stability of the Atlantic City casino industry over the past decade since five out of 12 such properties shuttered from 2014-16.
Two of those casinos were remodeled into the Hard Rock and Ocean properties on the Boardwalk that opened on the same day in 2018. Those two properties, on a monthly basis, trail only the iconic Borgata in the Marina District in Atlantic City casino revenue.
There have been no recent indications that any of the nine casinos is in danger of closing. And while revenue for the brick-and-mortar casinos has been flat in recent years, each - since 2013 - has received a supplementary source of income from partnerships with iGaming operators who still produce double-digit growths each year.
The Casino Association of New Jersey, however, has insisted that a smoking ban could lead to the closure of multiple casinos, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and thus threatening the entire South Jersey economy.
Which states ban smoking in casinos?
A majority of U.S. states ban smoking in its commercial casinos, but there are exceptions. These include Nevada, Rhode Island, Idaho, New Hampshire, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa. - about 75 miles northwest of Atlantic City - maintained its COVID-19 era smoking ban even after the state government in 2021 allowed casinos to resume the activity.
New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware - the other states in the vicinity of parts of New Jersey - all have 100% smoke-free casinos.
Assuming that the three New York City casinos approved in December 2025 also will be subject to the state smoking ban, it's possible that opening a casino at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in Bergen County, N.J. would attract gamblers from across the Hudson River.
In the spring of 2026, there has been discussion among legislators in the Trenton statehouse about trying to get a referendum on the ballot in November to authorize a Meadowlands casino.
But Atlantic City casino operators, as well as elected officials in the South Jersey area, already have written a letter to the new Governor asking her to join in opposition to such a proposal.
