Harry Reid is Retiring
Harry Reid has announced that he will not seek re-election once his term is up. The current Senate Minority Leader has decided not to seek re-election because “he was worries his race would consume campaign money that would be needed in other competitive states as Democrats try to regain control of the Senate.”
To understand why this is a big deal, let’s rewind to December.
With a looming deadline approaching, Sheldon Adelson wanted to have a hearing for the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, or RAWA, by the end of the year. His plan was not to seek the help of a powerful Republican, but a powerful Democrat, and he turned to Harry Reid.
Reid’s a huge supporter of the casino industry, but he hadn’t really elaborated on his feelings regarding online gambling. However, that quickly changed.
In an effort to get the ball rolling with RAWA, Adelson met with Reid. He didn’t technically offer financial support to Harry Reid, but rather, he offered to not financially support his opponent in the 2016 re-election. Reid apparently liked the sound of that, and soon, Harry Reid was waving the anti-online gambling flag. However, RAWA was not heard in 2014.
Harry Reid and Sheldon Adelson are friends on a personal level, there’s no denying that. Recently, however, they struck a business friendship, and things could’ve been bad for online gambling in 2016 should Harry Reid have been re-elected. However, that’s no longer going to be an issue.
So where does Sheldon Adelson go from here? He may have to just go home.
Sheldon Adelson has spent millions, if not billions, in the war to fight online gambling. He invested in Texas governor Rick Perry who was arrested on abuse-of-power charges several weeks later. He tried to work out a deal with Harry Reid, but that failed, too. This past week, RAWA finally had its hearing, and it was less than spectacular, which is great news for supporters of legalized online gambling. They can throw out any excuse they want, but the numbers don’t lie. Online gambling generates a ton of extra cash for states, and new players are signing up in droves thanks to no deposit bonuses.
Harry Reid’s retirement is great news for the future of online gambling. Harry and Sheldon had their initial friendship to build on, but now that Harry will be out of the picture next year, Sheldon needs to forge a new friendship with someone else. This could prove extremely difficult, now that RAWA is seen mostly as a self-servicing act. With more and more people supporting legalized online gambling and states posting record revenues, the clock may be ticking on Sheldon’s opposition. This time next year, Sheldon may find himself alone in his opposition.