House District 20 candidate Mo Brooks is sounding the alarm over big gambling interests flooding Alabama with dark money for the 2026 election cycle.
Various political action committees (PACs) like American Conservative Fund, Win for America, the North Alabama PAC and Montgomery’s SV&B PAC have invested millions of dollars since 2025, often with little to no transparency on where exactly the money is going.
Brooks recently joined “1819 News: The Podcast” to discuss the impact this money is having on the 2026 election and what it could mean for the gambling issue next session.
“The big number is $45+ million,” Brooks told host Bryan Dawson. “Think about that. I mean, that's huge. That's off the charts. Alabama's never seen anything like this before in the history of the state of Alabama.”
SEE: Gambling interests bet big on Alabama legislative campaigns
He continued, “I know enough about the economics of this gambling enterprise, know how badly it's going to hurt the economy of the state of Alabama when these gambling moguls siphon out of the state of Alabama all this money, money that used to circulate within the state of Alabama for our small businesses, for our hairdressers, for our restaurants, for our small mom and pop shops, for our gas stations, you name it, that circulates and it has a multiplier effect and all of a sudden, when that is pulled out of the Alabama economy, that means our economy is not as strong as it otherwise would be.”
Brooks said he would put his economics degree to good use if elected, informing voters and other lawmakers about the pitfalls of gambling. He also hopes the Alabama Attorney General's Office will intervene when the PACs violate election law.
“Those gambling moguls aren't going to be able to pull the wool over my eyes. I know what they're up to. I know how it functions,” he said.
RELATED: Sports Betting Alliance pumps $300K+ into Alabama campaigns via Steve Raby’s North Alabama PAC
“If you want to be a smart voter, do two things," Brooks outlined. "Number one, follow the money. If you follow the campaign contributions, then you know where a candidate really is because the special interests are experts at pinning a legislator down, and they don't give money unless you agree to vote for the positions that they most favor or vote against the positions that they most dislike. There is a quid pro quo."
“The second thing is, look at what an elected official does in their first year or two in office. Maybe their third year, but in the fourth year, that's where they're going to be a chameleon and try to persuade you that there are something they are not. I don't give any weight whatsoever to the fourth year, because that's an election year and they're going to try to look all happy, and they're going to try to smell all rosy. But the first and second year of the four-year term is when their true colors show. And as an aside, that's when James Lomax and a lot of other people voted exactly as the gambling moguls dictated to them to vote. That's probably one of the reasons why you're seeing so much money flowing into the campaign coffers of so many legislators. It's payback time," he added.
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