A candidate for Texas lieutenant governor wants voters to decide whether the state has casinos and sports betting.
Rep. Vikki Goodwin recently promised to deliver ballot initiatives on both issues. She currently represents western Travis County and is seeking to make the jump to a higher office. If she wins, she would unseat current Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
The two gambling issues appear to be a major piece of her campaign.
“I think that we should allow personal freedom, personal responsibility in the state of Texas,” she told Austin’s KTBC Fox-7. “And I have been hearing that some people do want casinos to come to Texas.”
Texas is surrounded by online sports betting and casino markets, but doesn’t have one of its own.
“I have friends who leave the state to go to Las Vegas, to Louisiana, et cetera. And they say, ‘Why can’t we have it here in Texas?'” Goodwin said. “It seems like a recent survey showed that over 50% of Texans do gamble already. And so, why don’t we allow them to vote to have a say?”
Expanded Gambling Still Faces Hurdles
In Texas, the lieutenant governor wields considerable influence on the legislative process. Many consider the position to be one of the most powerful elected officials in the state.
Lieutenant governors preside over the state senate and sets the agenda on what is considered by the legislative body.
Legislators attempted to legalize casinos in the past two years, but failed. The legislative failure came despite massive lobbying efforts by Sands Corp., which purchased a controlling stake of the Dallas Mavericks in 2024.
The company’s efforts started in November 2020, when Sheldon Adelson sent lobbyists to the state to sway lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session.
Patrick consistently said there wasn’t enough support among senators in his party for a casino proposal to pass. As a result, gambling bills trying to reach the Senate floor were blocked.
On the sports betting front, Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support for legalization. State Rep. Sam Harless filed a bill earlier this year that would allow voters to decide the issue.
As with a similar House bill in 2023, senators never voted on it.
“I might have three or four senators out of out of 20 Republicans who support. That’s it,” Patrick said of gambling-related bills last November. “They say, ‘Oh, we almost passed it last session.’ You know, they almost passed it with every Democrat voting for it and about one of four Republicans voting for it. We don’t do that in the Senate.”
Goodwin’s chances of winning next November’s election remain long. Texans haven’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. So far, Goodwin is the only Democrat who announced her candidacy for lieutenant governor.
Since the Texas legislature only meets every two years, the next time lawmakers could consider a gambling bill is January 2027.
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