Gambling Policy Becomes Prime Campaign Battleground

25 September 2026

State Senate primaries across the country have become proxy battles over gambling, with industry-aligned political action committees (PACs) and anti-tax groups funding rival candidates in hopes of shaping gambling policy.

In Pennsylvania, gambling interests poured $8.1 million into statewide primaries, with the money targeting three Senate races through a flurry of independent attack ads.

The messaging is not merely ideological. Behind the campaign blitz, gaming companies and their trade groups are advocating for light taxes and regulation, while lawmakers and anti-gambling groups want to raise revenues and rein in what they say are predatory practices.

Skill Games Taxation at Center of $8.1M Battle

The bulk of the spending targeted Pennsylvania’s three highest-profile Senate primaries, all among legislative Republicans.

The biggest single donor was Gateway Gaming, a prominent casino group, while much of the rest came from donors who supported light regulation.

One key contest involved Republican incumbent Chris Gebhard, who faced a tough challenge from Clovis Crane after introducing legislation to tax skill games, electronic devices popular in corner stores and bars, at a whopping 35%.

Casinos backed Chris Gebhard, who contended that skill games are functionally gambling and expanded beyond legal venues, diverting revenue from casinos and harming families and businesses.

Skill game backers, who maintained that their devices are not gambling, countered with ads questioning Gebhard’s judgment on the issue. Crane, who won the nomination, said he would tax and regulate them at a more industry-friendly rate.

The spending on this one Senate contest from casino-backed super PACs including Citizens Alliance. Supporters of skill games, meanwhile, planned $1.3 million in spending for this year’s primaries, with more than half paid for by the maker of those skill games, Pace-O-Matic.

Gambling Messaging Drives GOP Primaries in Pennsylvania

In the Pennsylvania races, the industry money fueled messaging that candidates have embraced. Republican Senate nominee Tom De Bruyn called for raising the limit to 1,000 on the number of licenses for gaming machines.

Opponents of the gaming industry financed comparable independent spending.

More on this is available via www.casinoinstantpay.com.

This year, both casino investors and groups that believe skill games are not gambling provided the lion’s share of funding for pro-gaming candidates.

That spending had an impact. In the field of Republican candidates, the final six were dominated by those supported by the gaming industry. On the anti-gaming side, Citizens Alliance spent $2.9 million in seven races, roughly matching sports betting’s $3.4 million, alongside the $1.3 million spent by skill-game maker Pace-O-Matic.

In general, the campaign financing shows that gambling-related donors are working to fund candidates who align with their preferred approach on taxes and regulation.

Citizens, a PAC backed by casino groups, spent heavily in 11 legislative Senate primaries, with only three losing candidates backed by the group. Only one casino-backed PAC candidate, Republican Senate nominee Tom De Bruyn, lost his party’s nomination. Pace-O-Matic chose its battles more carefully, spending nearly all of its money in two races.

Gambling is Growing Constituency in State Primary Campaigns 2024-25

The phenomenon is bigger than Pennsylvania. In 2024, anti-gambling groups such as the Pennsylvania Democratic Party targeted 27 legislative races with $16.5 million in spending. Almost half of all the contributions tracked by community groups were specifically aimed at gambling legislation.

In 2025, sports groups got involved, pushing their preferred candidates on taxation and regulation, while technology companies who make virtual online games (but argue the games are not gambling) aimed to slow state government regulation so their industry remains unregulated.

The gambling-friendly petitions helped push those candidates from first to second, while in another key race, PACs tied to skill games helped make the difference for a pro-tax candidate.

As gambling companies and their supporters get more involved in campaign financing, state legislators from both sides of the ideological spectrum will have to navigate new fundraising paths and messages on gambling policy.

After a record-breaking flood of gambling money in early 2026’s Pennsylvania legislative primaries, the issue will increasingly become a base for fundraising and politically energizing arguments promising either fairer taxation or deregulation.