Former Alabama state Sen. Rusty Glover says that he estimates the online sports betting industry spent $4 million trying to defeat him in this year’s Republican primary. He called the campaign a “disgusting” and “ruthless” effort to block a gambling opponent from the legislature.
Bloomberg previously documented more than $2.2 million in advertising against Glover by the American Conservative Fund, a political group backed by DraftKings and FanDuel. In an exclusive interview with GamblingHarm.org, Glover said the total campaign against him was much larger.
He said it also, unfortunately, broke a state record.
Historic Election Spending
The spending against Glover was part of a national political operation financed by the online sports betting industry. By mid-2026, DraftKings, FanDuel, and other sports gambling companies had contributed more than $72 million to Win for America, a super PAC network influencing state-level elections.
“It was three times the amount of the previous record for a single Alabama [Legislature] race,” Glover told GamblingHarm.org about his primary. He said most of the $4 million went to TV ads with “total lies” about his voting record, and that the outside money tilted spending in his race by a 45-to-1 margin.
Glover, who is staunchly against legalizing gambling in Alabama, previously served as a state senator from 2006 to 2018. He won his May primary election over Doug Harwell, receiving 54.5% of the vote. Glover is unopposed in the general election, so he will more than likely win Alabama Senate District 34 and return to the chamber.
Glover, also a former teacher, said the spending to defeat him reflects how close Alabama has come to putting harmful online sports betting up to a statewide referendum, which deeply concerns him. Despite his primary victory, sports gambling firms were successful in other Alabama primaries.
Long Fight Against Betting
In 2024, Alabama lawmakers came within one Senate vote of advancing a major gambling expansion to voters. The final compromise excluded sports betting, although an earlier House-approved version had included it.
Glover said broad gambling interests would, if given the opportunity, spend tens of millions of dollars to convince voters of state-sponsored gambling. It would be a David-versus-Goliath fight for Alabama family advocates. One gambling addiction harms 5-10 others, depending on the research.
Alabama is one of just 11 states without legalized sports gambling, which former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams called the “new opioid crisis.” The online sports betting industry is desperate for new markets.
Glover said he “doesn’t know what to believe” about future votes to legalize sports betting in the state. He called legalizing casinos, a lottery, and/or sports betting a “ludicrous” idea for Alabama.
Glover predicted that Republican gubernatorial nominee Tommy Tuberville would support gambling expansion in Alabama. Tuberville’s campaign reportedly has accepted gambling money.
Betting Industry on Offense
Alabama, along with states such as Georgia and Minnesota, has long been a target of the online gambling industry. More recently, the industry appears to be boosting its political spending as DraftKings and Flutter stocks decline and public opposition to the legal industry grows.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins discussed the company’s political spending during its Q1 2026 earnings call in May, describing the super PAC strategy as an experiment.
“We have a super PAC that we formed and are spending in various states,” Robins said in response to an analyst’s question. “We’re gonna try that strategy out for this election cycle, see how it goes, and then assess whether it’s something that we wanna continue doing in future years.”
Ohio, which has legal betting, was another industry target due to a bill that would repeal online sports betting. Along similar lines, a coalition of advocacy groups has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that allowed for the state-by-state legalization of online sports gambling.
