Former Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, said he would "struggle" to support gambling legislation in Alabama.
In a Tuesday interview with "Rightside Radio," Wahl called his support for a clean lottery "nuanced" because he would grapple with backing it, but the former ALGOP chairman acknowledged that some good could come from a clean lottery, such as cutting the state income tax with that revenue. He also revealed that he was a hard no on increased casino gaming because of the societal and political fallout.
“This is one of those things where it is a very nuanced question, because there are so many different bills. You have, you know, how you have, what set of people does it benefit? Because every bill that comes before the legislature is talking about whether it's, you know, the Poarch Creek Indians, maybe it's other gambling interests, which one does it benefit? So far, that conflict has killed anything to do with comprehensive gaming," Wahl explained. "I struggle with whether I would support a clean lottery. I think there is some good there. If a clean lottery was passed, though, I would want the revenue to go towards cutting the income tax, right? Like, there'd be a great revenue stream to use to cut the income tax."
"As far as increased casino gaming, I'm opposed to it. I just, I think it has some serious problems, has some serious consequences to society in general, but also to the political structure of our state. Just the mega lobby it would create and just different things around it. And I find that very concerning. So, I would have to be seriously convinced to support any kind of increased casino operations in the state of Alabama," he concluded.
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