Dem
47
GOP
53
Kalshi is a company that takes bets on political and other outcomes. You can bet on things from which party will win the House in 2026 to whom the Republicans will nominate for president in 2028 and much more. For example, if you think Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) will be the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2028, you can place a bet on her for 11¢. If she gets the nomination, you win $1.00; if not, you lose your 11¢. Kalshi thinks of itself as a company selling futures contracts (like selling August hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange). Arizona AG Kris Mayes thinks of it as an illegal gambling operation and has charged it as such. Some pundits cite betting markets like Kalshi and Polymarket as an alternative source of information about election outcomes since people betting on them have real skin in the game.
When Kalshi started, it was not really on anyone's radar. Now people are betting $5 billion a week on Kalshi, Polymarket and others like them. For example, over $10 million has been bet on Kalshi on the Texas Senate runoff. That got Mayes' attention. The company denies all wrongdoing so there could be a trial coming up. We wonder if Kalshi will take bets on which side wins the trial. (V)