Allen Silent on Gambling PAC Questions While Taking SV&B Funds

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has not responded to multiple requests from candidates, conservative groups and individuals to investigate gambling-related PACs, while his campaign for Lieutenant Governor has accepted funds from at least one such PAC.

On May 5, a Coalition of conservative groups and individuals sent a formal letter to both Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State Allen, requesting “a review and investigation into widely reported allegations involving gambling related money, flowing through political action, committees, and possible violations of Alabama campaign finance laws.“

In that letter, the Coalition requested a written response “outlining any actions taken or planned within 10 days of receipt of this letter.“ They noted that the matter was deserving of immediate attention, due to the incipient primary election, and the virtual certainty that officials elected in this cycle would be debating gambling legislation over the next four years.

The Coalition includes:

• Alabama Business Alliance — Wayne Pate, President
• Concerned Women for America (AL) — Bobbie Raddick, President
• Alabama Policy Institute — Stephanie Smith, President and CEO
• Eagle Forum of Alabama — Becky Gerritson, Executive Director
• ALCAP — Greg Davis, President and CEO
• John Eidsmoe, Esq.
• Citizens For a Better Alabama — Eric Johnston, President
• Southeast Law Institute — Eric Johnston, President
• Christian Coalition of Alabama — Randy Brinson, President and Chairman

As of May 13, the Coalition had not received a response from either the Attorney General or Secretary of State, as reported by ALPolitics.com.

On May 12, a group of eight candidates for office signed an open letter calling for Secretary Allen to open an investigation into the “American Conservative Fund“ (ACF) Political Action Committee. In the letter, the group pointed out that according to federal records, “the American Conservative Fund is bankrolled by sports betting companies DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel. “They also point out that this pack is actively backing candidates in both State House and State Senate Republican primaries across Alabama. They pointed out that, according to the Secretary of State’s website, the ACF has not been filing campaign finance reports as required by the Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act — despite significant spending in numerous races Statewide.

These candidates who signed the letter were:

• Joe Freeman, Alabama House, District 95
• Danielle Duggar, Alabama House of Representatives, District 96
• Maurice McCaney, Alabama House of Representatives, District 1
• Kaycee Cavender, Alabama House of Representatives, District 40
• Mike Van, Alabama State Senate, District 32
• Terry Waters, Alabama State Senate, District 22
• J. R. Bowling, Alabama State Senate, District 4
• Tim Manning, Alabama House of Representatives, District 101

Other candidates, including Gerald Dial and Nate Carlson, have also called on Secretary Allen to act on this issue.

As of May 14, the ACF had filed only three documents on the Secretary of State’s website:

• Appointment of Political Action Committee, filed 1/12/2026
• FEC Statement of Organization, filed 2/11/2026
• FEC April Quarterly Report, filed 4/15/2026

The ACF is a federal PAC headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and is Chaired by Brian Smith. It is exclusively funded by Win For America, which is funded by DK Crown Holdings (DraftKings), FanDuel Inc. and FBG ENTERPRISES OPCO LLC, a “a leading global digital sports platform that offers a comprehensive suite of products and services designed to enhance the fan experience across the sports industry.”

In the Quarterly Report, the ACF reported three dispersals to Swatek, Vaughn & Bryan, LLC, 770 Washington Ave, Suite 330, Montgomery, AL 36104 for “Political Strategy Consulting”

• $5,000 on 1/30/2026
• $5,000 on 2/25/2026
• $5,000 on 3/30/2026

Also located at 770 Washington Ave, Suite 330, Montgomery, AL 36104 is the SV&B PAC, Chaired by Dax Swatek. SV&B has filed numerous reports with the Secretary of State — some 29 pages worth — going back to 2013.

A review of Major Donor Reports filed by SV&B PAC recently shows that the bulk of their inflow over the last thirteen months has come from the Sports Betting Alliance:

• $250,000 on 4/10/2025
• $250,000 on 5/12/2025
• $250,000 on 11/5/2025
• $250,000 on 12/30/2025
• $250,000 on 2/12/2026
• $650,000 on 4/6/2026

The Sports Betting Alliance is “on a mission to ensure all 50 states can benefit from transparent and legal sports betting and online casino gaming with consumer, protections, and responsible, gaming tools that do not exist on the unregulated market.“ Based in Arlington, Virginia, the SBA describes itself as “an advocacy organization, dedicated to legal, regulated, online sports betting, and online gaming in the US.” Their website lists their members as DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, BETMGM and bet365.

Numerous candidates and candidate committees in Alabama have received donations from SV&B in this and past cycles. Among these is Wes Allen’s Lt. Governor campaign, which received $15,000 from SV&B on 12/29/2025.

Receiving campaign contributions from PACs is certainly legal. Receiving contributions from other PACs. including federal PACs, is legal. PACs spending on behalf of causes and candidates is legal — so long as the appropriate reports are filed in a timely fashion, and the law is followed.

What these candidates, groups and individuals have asked the Attorney General and Secretary of State to investigate, is whether or not the Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act and all other applicable Alabama laws are being followed, and to make this investigation transparent. They are also aware of the urgency of their requests, given the approaching May 19 primary.

What is concerning is that both the sitting Attorney General and Secretary of State are themselves actively campaigning for election to higher offices — Mr. Marshall for the U.S. Senate and Mr. Allen for Lt. Governor — while these issues go unanswered. It is also concerning that the official primarily responsible for monitoring the ACF — which is funded by gambling interests — has himself received donations from SV&B — which is largely funded by the ACF.

This is certainly not evidence of illegal behavior. It is, however, rather bad optics, if not ethically questionable.

And, as of this writing, there has no response to any of these letters by either AG Marshall or SecState Allen relayed to ALPolitics.com.

And May 19 is only 4 days away.