- A Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in Alabama is embracing gaming
- Alabama Rep. Phillip Ensler thinks it’s time to authorize a state-run lottery
A candidate looking for to turn into the primary Democrat to carry the workplace of lieutenant governor in Alabama in 16 years says he would encourage the Legislature to authorize a lottery, and probably, sports activities betting.
Alabama Democratic state Reps. Merika Coleman and Phillip Ensler marketing campaign for Kamala Harris throughout the 2024 presidential election. Ensler is operating to turn into lieutenant governor of Alabama in 2026. (Picture: X)
Alabama Rep. Phillip Ensler (D-Montgomery) is an atypical legislator within the Cotton State. The primary Jewish lawmaker in Alabama in additional than 4 many years, Ensler can be among the many youngest elected officers within the State Capitol in Montgomery.
Ensler, who solely assumed workplace in November 2022, is now looking for the state’s second-highest workplace. Inspired to run by former US Sen. Doug Jones (D-Alabama), who’s operating for governor, Ensler says he’d change how the lieutenant governor workout routines affect.
In latest interviews with the Alabama Reflector and Alabama Political Reporter, Ensler pledged to make use of the workplace as a “bully pulpit” to command consideration and form public opinion. Ensler’s agenda, he says, would concentrate on actual issues as an alternative of e book bans, DEI, and the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico. One such concern could be stopping Alabamians from crossing state borders to play the lottery.
Alabama Lottery
Alabama is bordered by Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Every of the 4 states has a state-run lottery, with Florida and Georgia’s lottery operations among the many richest within the nation.
Ensler believes Alabama lawmakers ought to move laws to provoke a constitutional poll referendum to permit the Cotton State to reap the identical monetary and societal advantages that lotteries ship. Such income may assist higher fund lecturers and Medicaid.
I hear from individuals everywhere in the state. Democrat, Republican, white, black, poor, extra prosperous, who say it’s loopy that we don’t have a state lottery,” Ensler informed the Alabama Political Reporter. “Individuals cross over state strains to purchase lotto tickets, and we’re lacking out on lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} that could possibly be used for schooling or healthcare.”
In close by Louisiana, a equally populated state, the state lottery has generated virtually $5 billion in state income since its inception in 1991. The Louisiana Lottery primarily advantages meals help packages.
Alabama can be considered one of solely 10 states that wouldn’t have authorized sports activities betting. Alabama moreover doesn’t allow industrial casinos, although the Poarch Band of Creek Indians operates Class II digital bingo-based gaming at Wind Creek properties.
Democrats Face Lengthy Odds
Alabama is deeply purple, with the state voting Republican in every presidential election since 1976. The legislature has been managed by Republicans since 2011.
With Gov. Kay Ivey (R) term-limited, the 2026 gubernatorial front-runner is US Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). The favored Republican, who ousted Jones within the 2020 election, is hoping to return house to succeed Ivey. Earlier than coming into politics, Tuberville was the pinnacle soccer coach at Auburn College from 1999 to 2008.
Ivey gained the 2022 common election with 66.9% of the vote. Yolanda Flowers, the Democratic nominee, secured simply 29.2% of the vote.
Although the 2026 midterms are anticipated to be a referendum on President Donald Trump and the Republican Celebration, the Republican candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will probably be the betting favorites in Alabama.
