Arthur Orr: 2026 election took Alabama from a ‘clean lottery vote’ to ‘full-on casino, sports betting – the whole enchilada’

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November 13, 2026

State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) said Friday that given the new, slightly-altered composition of the Alabama Legislature after the 2026 election cycle – casinos, sports betting, as well as a statewide lottery are all in play for the 2027 legislative session.

“I think before last Tuesday, we were probably looking at a lottery vote only. Pretty high potential for that to have just that clean lottery vote,” Orr said today on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show.”

“Now I think you’re looking at a full-on casino, sports betting, the whole enchilada would be in the mix based on Tuesday’s election.”

Two Madison County-area Senate seats went to Democrats earlier this month, and the Republican caucus stands at 24 of the chamber’s 35 seats. The 2024 gambling package died in the Senate 20-15, one short of the 21 votes a constitutional amendment requires.

Orr said the new math also changes the incoming governor’s role.

“I think Governor-elect Tuberville will be much more engaged with the legislature this round because the votes have changed,” Orr said.

Tuberville has indicated a sense of alacrity for getting gaming done quickly and responsibly once he takes office.

Fallout from 2024’s gaming fight has kept House leaders insisting the Senate go first on any new bill. However, Orr said that might be an arbitrary difference.

“We’ll see. I know the House felt a little bit burned because the bill failed in the Senate last time, but that was last quadrennium,” Orr said. “So we’ll see where the votes are, and those that are pushing this everything-goes kind of agenda will certainly, I would think, start where the votes are, be that House or Senate.”

Orr also spoke about State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore), who carried the Senate’s gambling bills and whose tenure ends after a May primary defeat.

“If you’re Greg Albritton, where is your district? It’s right there in the heart of Poarch Creek Indian territory, and the tribe wanted to see gaming, so you’re doing the bidding of your constituency that you represent,” Orr said. “If you traded districts with him to somewhere else, I don’t think he would have been as motivated because his constituency would have been different.”

Governor-elect Tuberville will take office in January. The 2027 legislative session begins on February 2 – now just 81 days away.

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.