Goodwin win could open Texas gambling bills to Senate votes
Regulation2 min read
Democrat Vikki Goodwin defeated Lt Gov Dan Patrick in Texas’s election on Tuesday, potentially changing which bills reach the Senate floor. Goodwin has said Texans should decide on gambling expansion, but any change requires a constitutional amendment backed by two-thirds of both chambers before a public vote; her election does not legalise gambling.
Vikki Goodwin, a Democrat, defeated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday. Gambling bills in Texas may get a route to the Senate floor for the first time in a decade. The win alone does not legalize anything. Any expansion of gambling in Texas needs a constitutional amendment, with two-thirds support in both chambers before voters see it.
Patrick has served as lieutenant governor since 2015. He has opposed legalised gambling in Texas. Earlier this year, he directed a Senate committee to study prediction markets.
She says on her campaign website that Texans should make the decision. She wrote: "I think we should let the people of Texas have a say in this decision through the democratic process". She also contends that Texas forfeits potential revenue and economic activity when residents travel to nearby states to gamble. As lieutenant governor, Goodwin will run Senate proceedings, choose committee chairs and control which bills reach the floor. Reports say Republicans in the Texas Senate are meeting to discuss removing some legislative powers from the new lieutenant governor.
Voters in Nebraska turned down online sports betting on Tuesday, although a citizen petition had put it on the ballot. Texas lacks a petition route like that, so lawmakers would have to approve any gambling vote first. Efforts by Texas legislators to widen gambling in recent sessions have repeatedly been blocked at the top of state government.