There Could Be Consequences For Kyl

Published: Thursday, October 26, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

THERE COULD BE CONSEQUENCES FOR KYL

Anti-online gambling Senator under pressure in home state

With opponent in the race for the Arizona senate seat Jim Pederson rapidly closing the gap, and the prospect of peeved online gamblers in the state showing their displeasure in a very direct way, Senator Jon Kyl is probably feeling the heat a little in the two week lead-up to the mid-term elections.

Earlier Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports that Arizona-resident Internet gamblers were contributing to the campaign fund for Kyl's election opponent (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports) have been followed by media claims of a growing initiative to unseat Kyl from his comfortable Senate appointment. Kyl reportedly has ambitions to become the Republican majority leader in the Senate following Senator Bill Frist's departure.

Both Republicans played a major role in ramming the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act through Congress in the closing minutes of the pre-election session, angering millions of Americans who regard Internet gambling as an entertainment of choice.

Reports today suggest that dozens of websites focusing on Arizona will join the campaign to unseat Kyl for his role in the attack on online gamblers' rights whilst his own state runs diverse forms of gambling including state lotteries, which were excluded from the UIGEA. There are reports of online gambling companies urging their Arizona players to participate in the initiative, with one major operation claiming it has at least 5 000 Phoenix, Arizona players on its database that it will alert to the action.

Over the past few weeks, Jon Kyl has watched a solid lead evaporate. Challenger Jim Pederson has now closed the Kyl lead to within 5 percentage points, and is still gaining momentum.

"The online gambling community will narrow that gap even further and anyone who underestimates the influence of the online gambler is in for quite a surprise," predicts an unidentified prominent industry exec. "Nine percent of Arizona voters said they were undecided and we believe many of these are individuals who are pro-gambling online and will be inclined to vote against anyone looking to take away their rights."