Gambling Foe Jon Kyl will not be around in 2012

Posted 2/11/11 : Jon Kyl will not be around in 2012
 
Over the past decade, any discussion on the legalization of internet gambling in the US would have been incomplete without some mention of the Republican senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl.
 
The wiley veteran politician has been at the centre of much of the opposition to legalization, and is widely accused of being part of the political alliance that rammed the UIGEA through a late night session of a Congress that was about to break for elections back in 2006.
 
The Washington newspaper Politico reported Thursday that Senator Kyl will no longer be a thorn in the side of the industry after 2012, as he has announced that he will not be standing for re-election to the Senate next year.
 
This senior politician is unlikely to be missed by the industry, but there’s perhaps an element of “better the devil you know” when the voting record of Kyl’s home state is reviewed – the last time an Arizona Democrat was elected to the Senate was in 1988!