Adelson May Back Huckabee

Several months ago, it was revealed that Sheldon Adelson donated a significant amount of money in 2012 – something to the tune of a hundred million dollars – to the Republican Party, which includes Rick Perry. It seemed like Sheldon Adelson and Rick Perry were becoming fairly close, which made sense, as Perry was eying a run at the White House for 2016. Rick Perry was then indicted on several charges, and his White House dreams may have been dashed.

Then, Adelson decided to donate money to put a stop to Florida’s Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative. The reason? Adelson is looking to bring his empire to Florida, and by donating to that cause, he was hoping legislators would be in his pocket. If Florida ever decides to vote to legalize online gambling, he would have them on his side. He knows that he just can’t compete with online gambling sites that run no deposit promotions.

Now, Sheldon Adelson may have found a new guy – Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is known for his passionate support of Israel, but that’s not why Sheldon Adelson would support him. He’s also a Republican, which means Sheldon Adelson would support him by default, but that’s not why Sheldon Adelson potentially has his eye on him.

Sheldon Adelson may support Mike Huckabee because Huckabee fully supports ending online gambling once and for all.

To his credit, Huckabee admitted that he’d be thrilled with Sheldon Adelson’s support. When asked about Sheldon Adelson’s potential financial backing, Huckabee responded, “If I do this, would I love to have his support? Yeah. I don’t want to be subtle.”

While Mike Huckabee hasn’t formally declared that he’s in the presidential race for 2016, many experts believe that he will indeed run. Some, such as Sean Conroy of RealClearPolitics, say that there’s “reason to believe” that Huckabee will run, and several insiders say that Huckabee views 2016 as his last chance to get in the White House.

With the issue of online gambling growing in popularity, this is a troubling revelation. We’ve already stated that we expected online gambling to be a pretty big issue in the 2016 election, but at this point, it could become the primary topic.

Huckabee isn’t the only rumored name for the 2016 election, though. Experts think that Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum may make a run for the White House in 2016. Sheldon Adelson’s backing, however, would give Mike Huckabee a fairly significant advantage.

New Jersey’s sports betting bill is held up in legal red tape, and the vote to legalize online gambling in California should take place in 2015. It’s possible that Pennsylvania will legalize online gambling soon, but for now, all we can do is wait and see how everything plays out.