{"id":356,"date":"2025-09-02T18:54:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T18:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=356"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:09:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:09:04","slug":"odds-good-texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-will-be-reelected-and-thats-bad-for-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/02\/odds-good-texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-will-be-reelected-and-thats-bad-for-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Odds Good Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Will Be Reelected, and That\u2019s Bad for Gaming"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is seeking reelection<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Patrick was criticized for blocking a 2023 sports betting referendum<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>President Donald Trump has endorsed Patrick for the 2026 election<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has been the second most powerful lawmaker in the Lone Star State for more than a decade. He hopes to keep it that way for at least another four years.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_361656\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-361656\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-361656 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Dan Patrick Texas sports betting casinos\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gp9cizMX0AAk36G-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick speaks at the Presidential Commission on Religious Freedom at The White House on May 1, 2025, in Washington, DC. Patrick is the betting front-runner to win a fourth four-year term as Texas lt. gov. during the 2026 election. (Image: X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Last month, Patrick, 75, confirmed he would seek a fourth four-year term as lieutenant governor.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I&#8217;m all in. I&#8217;ve always been all in,&#8221; Patrick said, using a term many <i>Casino.org <\/i>readers might associate with gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Patrick, however, is all out on gambling, as well as other so-called &#8220;sin industries.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of his early 2026 campaign pledges is to rid Texas of all THC cannabis products. Texas doesn&#8217;t allow medicinal or recreational use of marijuana, though some eligible patients can qualify to purchase low-THC cannabis products through the state&#8217;s Compassionate Use Program.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Reelection Extends Gaming Odds<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For many years, casino companies have expressed interest in building resorts in Texas, the United States&#8217; second most populous state. Las Vegas Sands has been at the forefront, spending many millions of dollars on campaigns and referendums that, to date, have been unsuccessful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">2025 was another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-sports-betting-2025-expect-a-lone-star-let-down\/\">year of failure<\/a> for pro-gaming interests in Texas. Legislation that would have put the fate of casino gambling and sports betting before voters never received a hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It was a setback from 2023 when a proposed constitutional amendment to allow sports betting passed the state House of Representatives by a 101-42 vote. An amendment to allow casinos narrowly failed to pass the Legislature&#8217;s lower chamber with a 92-51 vote, nine votes shy of the 100-vote threshold for the two-thirds majority requirement.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Patrick, who as lieutenant governor is the head of the Texas Senate, was blamed for the 2023 sports betting referendum never being seriously considered in the upper chamber. It stalled without ever receiving even a committee vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Patrick has said repeatedly that there is nowhere near enough support in the GOP-controlled Senate to warrant time on gaming matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Democrats hold 62 seats in the 150-member House (41.3%) but only 11 in the 31-person Senate (35.4%). During the 2023 sports betting vote, Democrats accounted for 55 of the 101 &#8220;yes&#8221; votes.<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Proponents Keep Hope Alive<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Patrick has already been endorsed by President Donald Trump for Texas&#8217; 2026 lieutenant governor election. He isn&#8217;t expected to face a Republican challenger, and the odds of declared Democrat Vikki Goodwin, a state representative from Dallas, upsetting Patrick are slim.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Texas chapter of the Sports Betting Alliance, a trade group that lobbies state governments to authorize and regulate online sports betting, hopes to improve the dialogue with Patrick and the GOP legislature next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We look forward to working with the Lt. Governor, along with a changing Texas Senate, on the issue next legislative session,&#8221; Karina Kling, a spokesperson for the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/news\/politics\/2025\/09\/02\/dan-patricks-reelection-plans-lengthen-odds-for-texas-casino-gambling-sports-betting\/\"><i>The Dallas Morning News<\/i><\/a>. &#8220;We&#8217;re optimistic that with growing support among Texans, meaningful conversations about expanding sports betting can continue.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The NBA Dallas Mavericks, which are owned by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/did-casino-billionaire-miriam-adelson-orchestrate-luka-doncic-lakers\/\">Dr. Miriam Adelson<\/a>, Sands&#8217; largest shareholder, are members of the Texas Sports Betting Alliance. The NFL Dallas Cowboys, NFL Houston Texans, MLB Houston Astros, and MLB Texas Rangers are, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/odds-good-texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-will-be-reelected\/\">Odds Good Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Will Be Reelected, and That&#8217;s Bad for Gaming<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is seeking reelection Patrick was criticized for blocking a 2023 sports betting referendum President Donald Trump has endorsed Patrick for the 2026 election Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) has been the second most powerful lawmaker in the Lone Star State for more than a decade. He hopes to keep it that way for at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":359,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions\/359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}