The blue tsunami that swept across the U.S. on Election Day didn’t just change what Congress will look like come January. It also made it plausible to believe that legal sports betting — and possibly casino gambling — will be meaningfully considered in the second-biggest state in the union.
Democrats will be running the executive branch in Austin for the first time since Ann Richards lost the governorship to George W. Bush in 1994. Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin, elected as governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, shockingly turned a staunchly red state blue (or maybe dark purple).
The great news for the legal gambling industry is that Goodwin, who will preside over the state Senate, supports sending the decision to legalize sports betting and casino gambling to voters. The issue could actually come to a vote in the Senate for the first time.
That said, there is no guarantee that a gambling expansion of any kind will pass, as the Senate still has a Republican majority. A key question that should be answered during the session, however, is whether Texas Republicans are as opposed to a gambling legalization as outgoing Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick painted. In many states, the issue is non-partisan.
