{"id":30435,"date":"2015-08-10T14:43:26","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T21:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=30435"},"modified":"2015-08-10T14:50:15","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T21:50:15","slug":"ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/","title":{"rendered":"State Senator Ray Lesniak Goes Gubernatorial with New Jersey Bid for 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NJ
New Jersey\u2019s next governor? State Senator Ray Lesniak, who is in the running, would support legalized sports betting and online poker in the Garden State.(Image: AP\/Mel Evans)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak<\/a>, the architect and sponsor of the bill that legalized online gambling in New Jersey, has announced his ambitions to become the Garden State’s next governor.<\/p>\n

While his candidacy has not yet been made official, Lesniak stated his claim to run for office when he announced he would not be seeking a new term in the legislature.<\/p>\n

“Forty years in the legislature certainly is enough, but more importantly, this state has very, very serious problems that just one senator cannot solve, and I believe my record shows that I can get things done. The state certainly needs to get things done and that’s why I’m looking at running for governor,” he said.<\/p>\n

A successful Lesniak campaign would install a key champion of online gambling into the governor\u2019s mansion and no doubt bolster the industry in New Jersey. He’s been an outspoken supporter of the need for PokerStars<\/a> to invigorate the market, and recognizes the importance of interstate and international player pool sharing in promoting the health of the online poker ecology.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Dagger in the Heart\u201d<\/h2>\n

He is also behind much of the push to legalize sports betting in the state, at both casinos and racetracks. When incumbent governor Chris Christie initially vetoed Lesniak\u2019s sports betting bill last year, the senator accused him of sticking \u201ca dagger in the hearts of Atlantic City’s casinos and New Jersey’s racetrack industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christie made the decision after a legal challenge to the sports betting bill by the sports leagues was upheld in a federal court. Christie declared that federal law was \u201csacrosanct,\u201d and that he would abide by it, until Lesniak convinced him otherwise.<\/p>\n

Christie subsequently changed his position, and by January 2015, he was in full support of sports betting legalization<\/a> in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

New legislation was quickly proposed that would, rather than regulate sports betting in New Jersey, simply choose to ignore the enforcement of federal anti-sports betting law at casinos and racetracks, thus, in a sense, decriminalizing it.<\/p>\n

Popular Candidate<\/h2>\n

\u201cNo law enforcement or prosecution agency or officer shall \u2026 make an arrest, file a complaint against, or prosecute any person involved in the operation of a sports pool by a casino or racetrack to the extent that such activity takes place consistent with this Law Enforcement Directive,\u201d declared New Jersey Acting Attorney General John Hoffman when stating New Jersey\u2019s official position towards the end of last year.<\/p>\n

That particular point of law is currently being considered by yet another federal court, but what\u2019s not in doubt is that, with the anti-RAWA Lesniak as governor, New Jersey\u2019s online and land-based gambling industry would be in good hands.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it might just happen. According to political commentators in the Garden State, Lensiak is popular with a disparate sections of voters, from animal rights supporters and environmental campaigners to people who just want to play poker, and is therefore very much a viable candidate.<\/p>\n

As for Christie, he one of 17 candidates clamoring for a shot at the GOP 2016 presidential nomination. Other major contenders include Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and RAWA proponent and South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak, the architect and sponsor of the bill that legalized online gambling in New Jersey, has announced his ambitions to become the Garden State’s next governor. While his candidacy has not yet been made official, Lesniak stated his claim to run for office when he announced he would not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":30447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nState Senator Ray Lesniak Goes Gubernatorial with New Jersey Bid for 2016<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak will stand for governor, a boost for online poker and sports betting in the Garden State.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State Senator Ray Lesniak Goes Gubernatorial with New Jersey Bid for 2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak will stand for governor, a boost for online poker and sports betting in the Garden State.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-10T21:43:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-10T21:50:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NJ-State-Senator-Ray-Lesniak-running-for-Governor.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"956\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/\",\"name\":\"State Senator Ray Lesniak Goes Gubernatorial with New Jersey Bid for 2016\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NJ-State-Senator-Ray-Lesniak-running-for-Governor.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-10T21:43:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-10T21:50:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"New Jersey State Senator Ray Lesniak will stand for governor, a boost for online poker and sports betting in the Garden State.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ray-lesniak-vying-for-gubernatorial-role-in-new-jersey\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NJ-State-Senator-Ray-Lesniak-running-for-Governor.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/NJ-State-Senator-Ray-Lesniak-running-for-Governor.jpg\",\"width\":956,\"height\":519,\"caption\":\"New Jersey\u2019s next governor? 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