Pa. election results, Shapiro’s speeches, and state laws are all prediction market bets. Could this lead to corruption?; Spotlight PA, September 3, 2026

Jaxon White , Spotlight PA; Pa. election results, Shapiro’s speeches, and state laws are all prediction market bets. Could this lead to corruption?

"Who will win Pennsylvania’s race for governor? How many data centers will be proposed here? Which state laws will be enacted this year?

That’s just a sample of the political questions that prediction market platforms, like Kalshi and Polymarket, allow people to bet on.

These platforms, which allow people to wager on the outcomes of a wide range of real-world events, are exploding in popularity. As the midterms approach and these markets receive more scrutiny, some ethics experts are raising concerns that they are ripe for abuse from government insiders or bad faith actors looking to sway elections."

White House Teleprompter Operator Bet on Trump Speeches, Kalshi Says; The New York Times, July 16, 2026

  Lauren McCarthy, The New York Times; White House Teleprompter Operator Bet on Trump Speeches, Kalshi Says

"A White House teleprompter operator used his position to win around $100,000 by placing bets on the prediction market Kalshi about what President Trump would say in his speeches, the company said on Thursday.

It was the latest accusation that someone had used inside information to make a profit on a prediction market like Kalshi and Polymarket, which have grown rapidly and transformed into cultural phenomena.

In this case, Kalshi said Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to Mr. Trump, had placed wagers on common words that would appear in the president’s speeches, such as country names and economic terms. In March, when Kalshi’s surveillance systems flagged some of Mr. Perez’s trades, the company froze the funds in his account and referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulates prediction markets."