Election outcomes with major gaming implications

In 2025 election results, a multitude of outcomes affect gaming.

Numerous gaming issues were affected by the 2025 elections, including those related to New York casinos and Pennsylvania skill games.

The results of the first election of US President Donald Trump’s second term produced intrigue for the gaming industry in 2025 and beyond in key states including New York, New Jersey and Texas.

On Tuesday, voters across the US headed to the polls for the 2025 elections with several issues of interest to the gaming industry on the ballot, namely key races in current or prospective gaming jurisdictions.

The New York City mayoral election was a major storyline for the casino industry, which has three finalists vying for three downstate licences to be issued in the state by year’s end. Nearby, gaming-forward New Jersey elected Democrat Mikie Sherrill to be the state’s next governor, over Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli.

In Texas, a state Senate race monitored by Las Vegas Sands is headed to a runoff without the Sands-backed candidate. And in Pennsylvania, the state’s Supreme Court retained its 5-2 Democratic majority as the casino industry continues its legal battle against so-called skill games.

Mamdani becomes the biggest headline of the 2025 elections

Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani won the election handily over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and longtime political activist Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani’s election as NYC mayor is notable for multiple reasons.

At 34, he is the city’s youngest mayor in over 100 years, and he is the first Muslim to hold the office. His far-left policies have rankled the city’s business and financial communities, as he proposes funding the bulk of his initiatives through higher taxation of the wealthiest New Yorkers and businesses.

All of the downstate casino finalists – Bally’s Bronx, Resorts World NYC and Metropolitan Park – are proposing multibillion-dollar developments that could see impacts from Mamdani’s politics.

Bally’s bid was significantly buoyed by outgoing mayor Eric Adams, who withdrew from the race in September. Metropolitan Park, the most ambitious project ($8 billion), is backed by Steve Cohen, who is a major donor to the Democratic Party to which Mamdani belongs. But Cohen’s ties have mainly been to Governor Kathy Hochul, who originally opposed Mamdani but ultimately endorsed him.

As a Muslim, Mamdani is opposed to gambling, which is forbidden under the faith. But his stance on the downstate process specifically is neutral, with the caveat that it is largely out of his control.

“I’ve been open about my personal skepticism, and yet I also know this is the law,” Mamdani told The New York Times in August. “The siting and the choices of which casinos will open, that pertains to the state.”

Prior to running for mayor, Mamdani served in the state Assembly since 2020. His district was in Queens, which is where the Metropolitan Park and Resorts World downstate bids are located. Resorts World is going above and beyond to secure a licence, offering the highest licence fee ($600 million) and tax rates (56% for slots, 30% for tables). Cohen and Metropolitan Park, by comparison, are offering the minimum licence fee ($500 million) and tax rates (25% for slots, 10% for tables).

Cuomo’s record of gaming expansion in New York

The gaming industry might have preferred a Cuomo victory, given previous expansions under his tenure.

Cuomo was governor in 2013 when voters passed Proposal 1, which allowed for a total of seven commercial casino licences throughout the state. Four licences were awarded upstate in 2014-15, leaving the three remaining in the current downstate process.

Cuomo was also governor when New York legalised online sports betting in early 2021, before resigning in August of that year in part because of a sexual harassment scandal. Cuomo drove the online NY sports betting process, making clear he would not sign anything but a robust tax rate. Bidders ultimately proposed the 51% tax rate that is the nation’s highest, and led to New York becoming the biggest OSB market in the US by handle and tax revenue.

New Jersey’s new governor inherits a major gaming market

New York’s casino expansion is likely to have ripple effects for New Jersey, which has positioned itself as one of the major gaming states in the US. Outgoing governor Phil Murphy oversaw numerous gaming-related developments in the Garden State since his election in 2017.

There are three central gaming issues that the incoming Sherrill might face in the next four years.

The first and perhaps most controversial is indoor smoking in casinos. New Jersey has become a key battleground for advocacy groups like Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects and Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights (ANR). Murphy said he would sign a smoking ban bill if it reached his desk, but none did, as the casino lobby has successfully dug in its heels to this point.

At an event in 2024, Sherrill said that proponents of indoor casino smoking were choosing a “weird fight to have”. That sentiment drew praise from ANR, but Sherrill did not publicly take a stand on the topic during the gubernatorial campaign.

The other two Garden State issues pertain to casino expansion and tax rates. New Jersey officials have posited the idea of expanding casinos in the state beyond Atlantic City, but it has yet to gain traction. That could change meaningfully, however, during Sherrill’s tenure once the New York expansion begins.

With regard to tax rates, Sherrill is taking office on the heels of an increase championed by Murphy. New Jersey’s sports betting and iGaming tax rates were increased this year to 19.75% from 13% and 15%, respectively. Murphy originally proposed 25% rates.

It seems unlikely Sherrill would push quickly for further hikes, but other states like Illinois and Ohio have seen multiple increases approved or proposed in short succession.

Las Vegas Sands’ Texas ambitions stall again

Texas is opposite to New York and New Jersey in many ways, but it too has been grappling with casino expansion for years. Las Vegas Sands has keyed in on the Lone Star State as its next untapped gaming destination. Sands’ controlling shareholder, Miriam Adelson, has been a huge presence in Texas politics for several cycles. She also purchased the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks franchise in 2023 and installed Sands COO Patrick Dumont as governor.

Earlier this year, the company was charging hard for a prospective casino-resort development in Irving, a suburb of Dallas. The project narrowly secured local zoning approval, but Sands pulled the casino component after fierce pushback from residents and tribal casino interests in neighbouring states. Additionally, previous progress in the state legislature was sharply cut down by anti-gaming officials this year. Texas lawmakers will not convene again until 2027.

Adelson still spent aggressively in the 2025 elections, as she put in $1.2 million backing John Huffman in the race for Senate District 9. A related interest group contributed an additional $2 million, per NBC Dallas. Huffman’s opponent, Leigh Wambsganss, was funded by conservative interests, including Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who controls the Senate and has blocked previous gambling-related legislation.

In the end, it was a third candidate, Democrat Taylor Rehmet, who was the top vote-getter (48%). Wambsganss finished second (36%) and Huffman was far below both in third (16%). Because Rehmet fell short of a majority, he and Wambsganss will now have a runoff election at a later date. Huffman was snubbed altogether, another setback for Sands’ Texas efforts.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court maintains stance favourable to skill games

Lastly, Pennsylvania’s gaming stakeholders were keyed into elections for three state Supreme Court justice slots. All three Democratic incumbents – Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht – retained their posts, meaning the court will maintain the party’s majority. Wecht and Dougherty received new 10-year terms, whereas Donohue will serve until she reaches mandatory retirement age in 2027.

This is perhaps unnerving for state casinos, which have lobbied for years against the proliferation of “skill games”, or unregulated slot-like games, in small businesses. But state courts, including the Supreme Court, have repeatedly ruled in favour of skill games and their manufacturers.

In March, the Supreme Court ruled that state gaming regulators erred in denying gaming licences to businesses that offered skill games. Regulators argued that such behaviour violated a “good character” clause in the licensing application. The court disagreed and largely avoided the question of skill games legality altogether.

Per the Altoona Mirror, Wecht ruled that businesses had a right to believe skill games were legal because of “court rulings” and “the representations of the device manufacturers and their lawyers”.

“Given this landscape, it is reasonable for these individuals to believe that they are doing nothing wrong,” Wecht continued. “It is, thus, excessive and unfair for the board to declare that every individual involved in this industry lacks ‘good character, honesty and integrity’ merely due to their involvement in the industry.”