Patrick seeks reelection
The prospects of legalized sports betting and casino gambling in Texas have taken a blow after Senate leader Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced that he will seek reelection for another four-year term.
Patrick has been a block to legislation on gambling due to his refusal to allow any bills featuring gambling pushed by Democrats to reach the Senate, while state Republicans have no plans to launch any bills of their own.
the deadlock looks set to continue for the foreseeable future
Combined with a general lack of support for gambling among senators in the house, the deadlock looks set to continue for the foreseeable future, ending any hopes that a change in leadership may present new opportunities for legalized gambling.
Momentum lost
Patrick announced his reelection bid earlier last month and is expected to face little opposition in the GOP primary in March. Against any potential Democratic challengers, Patrick would also be a heavy favorite to win any election.
Under Patrick’s leadership of the Senate, plans to liberalize Texas’s gambling laws have petered out with little success after some optimism in previous years that progress could be made.
the bill failed to receive a hearing after Patrick insisted the Republican votes were insufficient
In 2023, a constitutional amendment allowing sports betting was approved by the Texas House by a majority vote of 101-42. However, after advancing to the Senate, the bill failed to receive a hearing after Patrick insisted the Republican votes were insufficient for it to pass.
By 2025, gambling bills failed to even achieve a hearing in the House, with newly elected Republican speaker Dan Burrows not prioritizing the issue. With other incoming senators and representatives unlikely to back the move, it seems like there will be no immediate path forward for gambling in the Lone Star State.
Additional challenges
Mike Lavigne, an Austin-based gambling consultant, said that the situation was “Groundhog Day” and that nothing had changed. Lavigne also stressed there were other roadblocks ahead for gambling legislation that went beyond the Senate leader.
“If I was the Sands Corporation, I’d be trying to count my Senate votes and quit worrying about Dan Patrick. Patrick is not as big a problem as the rest of the Senate is. And if they had the votes in the Senate, Patrick wouldn’t be a problem.”
However, Karina Kling, a spokesperson for the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, said that Patrick’s reelection could allow more scope for dialogue, saying: “We look forward to working with the Lt. Governor, along with a changing Texas Senate, on the issue next legislative session.
“While he has expressed concerns about sports betting in the past, we’re optimistic that with growing support among Texans, meaningful conversations about expanding sports betting can continue.”
