Illinois Senate President Don Harmon (D) is in hot water after accepting a campaign contribution from a sweepstakes casino operator that state gaming regulators have described as operating illegally.
Modo gaming platform’s parent company ARB Interactive donated $50,000 to Harmon’s campaign. That was one of the largest contributions to the Friends of Don Harmon for State Senate campaign fund this year, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The donation came after a 15-minute meeting between Harmon and representatives from the company, the newspaper reported. A campaign spokesman said Modo’s business wasn’t part of those talks.
The campaign has pledged to donate an equivalent amount to local charities and stressed that Harmon was one of the state lawmakers with reservations about the gaming industry as a whole.
“Senate President Harmon has long been among the most skeptical voices in Springfield as to the wisdom of putting a slot machine in every Illinoisan’s pocket, and he remains so today,” a spokesman said.
‘Gambling Fentanyl’
As Senate president, Harmon has considerable power over what legislation is put before lawmakers. The contribution came after Modo was ordered to cease operating in the state in January.
“On Jan. 15, 2026, the IGB (Illinois Gaming Board) observed that you offered Illinois users the ability to play slots and table games (‘Games’) through both the internet and mobile devices,” the IGB wrote in a cease-and-desist letter to the company. “The Games gave users the opportunity to win cash, gift cards, and other prizes in violation of Illinois law.”
The funds for the Harmon campaign came just before the Illinois General Assembly began discussing gaming regulation and as the IGB has attempted to crack down on unregulated operators in the state. ARB disagrees with the state’s interpretation of current gaming law and believes the platform operates within regulations.
“ARB Interactive respectfully disagrees with the Illinois Gaming Board’s legal interpretation and has provided the board with a detailed legal analysis supporting our position that our platform operates lawfully under Illinois law,” the company said.
Records also show that an ARB employee gave $2,500 to state Rep. Bob Rita (D), who has led many of the Democrat party’s efforts to regulate gaming in the state. Additionally, the company has contracted with an Illinois lobbying firm. The donations have drawn criticism from anti-gambling advocates.
“Online gambling is ‘gambling fentanyl,’” Stop Predatory Gambling National Director Les Bernal told the Sun-Times. “That’s how dangerous it is, that’s how addictive it is. Politicians accepting money from these gambling fentanyl dealers, it’s like accepting campaign donations from the Mexican drug cartels.”
Illinois Gaming Issues
Gambling bills and tax increases on the sports betting industry have made headlines in the Lincoln State over the last couple years. Lawmakers introduced an online gaming bill earlier this year.
The state also made news in 2025 by hiking taxes on sports betting operators. Legislators levied a 25-cent tax on every wager placed with a regulated operator for the first 20 million bets, which doubled beyond that threshold.
Wagers dipped after the tax increase was enacted and lawmakers are now considering repealing the tax. Additionally, the city of Chicago enacted a 10.25% tax on sports betting operators earlier this year.
Sportsbooks sued to block the tax and state legislators are considering a bill to strip state funding from Chicago in the exact amount the city would collect from the tax. In June, the General Assembly began considering legislation to add a similar tax to prediction market trading.
