As the fight to keep gambling out of Texas grows, a new gambling lobby has entered Texas politics, backing Austin swamp candidates to promote gambling in Texas.
According to The Daily Bull, sports betting companies, including DraftKings and FanDuel, are part of the Sports Betting Alliance, which now has its own political operation under the name Texas Conservative Fund.
While Texas has several pro-gambling organizations donating money to state officials to push legislators to legalize casino gambling in the state, now sports betting companies are joining the fight.
The Texas Conservative Fund, created on January 8, received $3.5 million from Conservative Agenda for America in February. CAA was created in November 2025 with the Federal Election Commission and received a donation from Win for America. WFA was created in early November 2025 and is currently funded entirely by DK Crown Holdings INC.—DraftKings’ legal name.
The trail of donations leads back to DraftKings as the primary contributor to these PACs, which are seeking to influence Texas lawmakers to legalize gambling in the state.
Additionally, the treasurer of each entity is Brian Smith, who lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
During the Texas Republican primary, TCF spent more than $2.6 million on text messages, television ads, and direct mail supporting different Republican candidates across the state.
Specifically, the PAC supported Texas State Reps. Jay Dean (HD-7), Angelina Orr (HD-13), Stan Gerdes (HD-17), Jeff Leach (HD-67), Stan Kitzman (HD-85), Ken King (HD-88), Jared Patterson (HD-106), Morgan Meyer (HD-108), and Marc Lahood (HD-121).
TCF also backed Republican candidates Armin Mizani, Willie Ng, Kelly Peterson, and Jay Hardaway.
Ten of the candidates they supported won their primaries on Election Day, while Peterson is headed to a runoff against Stan Stanart for Texas House District 126.
Texas Conservative Fund opposed two candidates in the primaries: Dennis Gessaman, who defeated incumbent Stan Kitzman to be the Republican nominee for HD 85, and State Rep. Mark Dorazio, who defeated the group’s backed candidate Willie Ng in HD 122.
Axiom Strategies—one of the country’s largest and most prominent Republican consulting firms—was among the many vendors listed in TCF’s report.
The firm, founded by prominent Republican political strategist Jeff Roe, has made a recent appearance in Texas, mainly supporting candidates challenging current incumbents or moderates in state races.
However, as The Daily Bull notes, it appears the firm backs “either embattled incumbents or candidates against opponents who are vehemently opposed to any kind of gambling.”
In addition to Axiom Strategies’ involvement in Texas races, the Sports Betting Alliance has made direct contributions to the Texas GOP, donating $25,000 in 2022. While the group refrained from engaging in political campaigns, it now seems they are taking a new approach.
The Daily Bull also noted additional contributions Win For America paid to other PACs, including $450,000 to American Future PAC, a group that has paid multiple entities and individuals that share an address with The Lincoln Project, a prolific anti-Trump PAC created to “protect the American Republic from Donald Trump and those who identify (publicly or privately) as MAGA supporters.”
American Future has paid individuals such as Travis Tazelar, who served as the political director for VoteVets in 2024. The group spent nearly $500,000 in the Senate District 9 special election backing Democrat Taylor Rehmet, who ultimately defeated Republican candidate Leigh Wambsganss.
With millions being spent by outside organizations to legalize gambling in Texas, the fight to keep it illegal has become a high-stakes political battle in the state. The question for Texans is no longer whether outside interests are trying to influence legislators, but whether lawmakers in Austin will listen to the vast majority of voters who oppose it.