Main Lobby Contractor Faces Competition
from Rival with Patrick Advisor as Lobbyist
Capitol Inside
March 19, 2025
A powerful Republican lawmaker ventured into rarefied territory on Tuesday when he requested highly detailed records for the Texas lottery contract competitors in a fight that has hundreds of millions of dollars at stake and lobbyists with close ties to the state's top two leaders in opposite corners.
State Senator Bob Hall - an Edgewood Republican who chairs the Administration Committee - sought the procurement information for the bidding process on the day after he filed a package of bills that are designed to give legislators the opportunity to reform the lottery if they don't elect to get rid of the state-sponsored game of chance instead.
The Senate revived a lottery measure that Hall tried and failed to pass two years ago with a vote on February 27 for Senate Bill 28 - which would ban lotto ticket purchases through private couriers. The legislation has languished in the House without a committee referral much less a hearing or vote since it arrived in the Legislature's lower chamber more than two weeks ago.
The apparent stalling of SB 28 in the House could set the stage for a showdown with the Senate on proposed reforms that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick helped get under way when he showed up at a retail store last month to grill employees on a winning ticket that was acquired through a courier service in the Austin area. The Republican Senate president raised the specter on the potential for corruption with the lottery despite the lack of evidence to support such a claim.
But the Senate's new crusade for lotto reform could have the effect of damaging the credibility of the private company that's had the most lucrative contract for the operation of the lottery throughout most of its existence in the past three decades - International Gaming Technology - more commonly known as IGT.
Patrick made suspicions about the lottery public after IGT's main rival, Scientific Games, enlisted the lieutenant governor's chief political consultant Allen Blakemore for its lobby team in Austin. The group of professional advocates who are registered to represent Scientific Games at the Texas Capitol this year includes veteran lobbyist Demetrius McDaniel along with Casey Haney and Sergio Cavazos.
IGT and Scientific Games have been in a league of their own in terms of the sophisticated technology that it takes to run lotteries as big as those conducted in states in the U.S. and other countries as well. Scientific Games has been dueling IGT for the largest lottery operational contracts all across the nation and the globe as a result.
While Scientific Games has a contract for scratch-off contests in Texas, it has questioned why IGT has had the more lucrative business of providing terminals and other equipment and supplies for so long. Patrick and Senate Republican allies have been casting clouds on the current system's performance and integrity at the same time in a separate but related development.
But IGT Global Solutions has connections to Governor Greg Abbott with a lobby team that features John Scott and Luis Saenz. Scott is an old friend who's been a troubleshooter in times of need as a former secretary of state and fill-in for Attorney General Ken Paxton for several months after his impeachment in 2023. Saenz served as chief of staff for Abbott in the governor's office. IGT has Mignon McGarry, Mark Vane and Cal Varner representing its interest in Austin as well.
Unlike Blakemore, Saenz and Scott aren't getting paid by campaigns for consulting advice for lawmakers who they lobby. Blakemore served as a consultant for eight Senate Republicans in 2024 in addition to his role for Patrick. The list of Blakemore clients last year included State Senators Paul Bettencourt of Houston, Donna Campbell of New Braunfels, Brandon Creighton of Conroe, Pete Flores of Pleasanton, Brent Hagenbuch of Denton, Adam Hinojosa of Corpus Christi, Lois Kolkhorst of Brenham and Tan Parker of Flower Mound.
| 
