Ballot Question 1 doesn’t actually mention the city of Revere by name. Instead, it would let the state issue one new gambling license —for a facility with no table games—on a site that’s at least four acres large, and located right next to a horse-racing track.

Conveniently, though, that happens to describe the location in Revere where Question 1’s proponent, developer Eugene McCain , wants to build a new slot parlor and accompanying hotel.

Right now, the gritty spot just north of Suffolk Downs is home to a run-down trailer park. Jason Osborne, the chairman of the Yes to 1 campaign , says McCain’s project would represent an upgrade.

“It’s a trailer park that some have described to us as ground zero for crime,” Osborne told WGBH News. “We’re going to take that out and put in a nice facility."

“Our target market is a 55-year-old woman or man that’s coming in and out of Boston for business,” Osborne added. “More often than not, they come out to their hotel, and then just stay the night there and eat room service. We want to provide another opportunity for them, another venue for them to go someplace fun."

As visions go, it’s a bit understated. But Osborne, who’s a veteran Republican operative , paints a more compelling picture of the project’s potential impact. He touts up to 600 new, permanent jobs—and says, in essence, that a slot parlor would make Revere great again. 

“We want to return it to kind of the Revere of olden day [sic], where you had entertainment venues, and people could come down and play on beach and take their kids to the amusement park,” Osborne said. “By bringing an electronic gaming facility here, I think we think can make Revere again prosperous, and bring back a lot of businesses that have left.”

But here’s the catch: Revere’s politicians say they don’t want what McCain is selling.

Last week, Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo held a defiant press conference in front of Revere City Hall. Flanked by two state legislators and several city councilors, Arrigo—who's previously supported gaming—cast McCain as a shadowy figure, selling a sketchy proposal with the backing of mysterious financial interests.   

“We stand here today to defend the city against a bad idea that will set us back in our fight for job growth and sustainable economic development in Revere,” Arrigo said. “The proponents are attempting to pull a fast one on Revere voters."

“The money to support this ballot question,” Arrigo added, “is coming from a Delaware corporation, Capital Productions LLC, which provides no information about who they are and what they do."

Capital Productions has spent more than $500,000 to boost Question 1, according to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance . But as the mayor says, details are in short supply. There’s no website, and a spokesman for the Yes to 1 campaign told WGBH News he couldn’t provide any information.

In a sit-down interview, Arrigo made another argument against Question 1. Now that that the dream of a casino at Suffolk Downs is dead, he said, Revere needs to move on. 

“It was clear over last few years that the city was putting all its eggs in the casino basket, to make sure it happened—and then it didn’t happen, twice,” Arrigo said.

"People have felt, I think, exhausted by the idea of gaming, and are ready to move on and look at the city for what it is,” he added. “Which is three MBTA stops, a beautiful beach, access to public transit that’s really unmatched in the region."

For their part, Question 1’s backers claim Revere residents are still bullish on the industry, citing an internal poll conducted back in May.

“With regard to, ‘Do they support gaming here in Revere?’ it was an overwhelming 64 percent in support,” Osborne says of the poll. “We had about 18, 19 percent opposed, and the rest were undecided.”

Still, Question 1 is facing broader pushback. Celeste Myers, who chairs the group that’s opposing Question 1, said she’s hearing from gambling opponents and supporters across the state—united, for once, in their belief that this particular proposal is a bad idea.

Wherever you stand on gambling, Myers added, McCain’s approach raises the prospect of the state’s fledgling gaming industry being expanded piecemeal, by individual ballot measures, in the years to come.

“We’ve got about eight to 10 public-speaking engagements set up over next couple of weeks, and they’re multiplying,” Myers said. “We’ve had to turn away opportunities because we don’t have enough bandwidth.”

All of which raises a question: What will Arrigo do if Question 1 passes—and slot-parlor proponents prevail in a Revere-only referendum on October 18?

Arrigo, who made an unsuccessful bid to delay that local vote until the statewide results were in, says he has “no interest” in signing the host-community agreement needed for McCain’s project to forward.

To which Jason Osborne, the Yes to 1 chairman, says: Give him time.

“If, after all that, [Arrigo] is still opposed, and he’s not going to sign it, I’m not sure residents here will appreciate that very much,” Osborne said. “My hope is that after sees all this, the proposals we have and the partners we have on board, he’ll change his mind.”

But before that scenario can play out, voters from Revere to Rehoboth get to have their say.