Kalshi gives $5,000 to Idaho AG Labrador amid betting fight

Kalshi, the prediction-market platform, donated $5,000 to Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s campaign on Oct. 13, as Labrador pressed a legal and regulatory challenge to federal authority over sports-betting platforms.

The contribution came after Kalshi had given $15,500 to Idaho Republicans during the preceding month. Labrador’s office said the donation would not alter his position. “No campaign donation is going to change his zeal to defend the laws of Idaho and its sovereignty,” spokesperson Damon Sidur said.

Labrador maintains that states, rather than the federal government, should set gambling policy. He has joined a 39-state coalition contesting the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s claimed authority over state gambling laws, and has participated in a Ninth Circuit brief and a CFTC submission opposing the position taken by Kalshi and the federal government.

The Ninth Circuit is reviewing consolidated cases concerning Nevada’s enforcement of gambling laws against prediction-market platforms. Idaho’s attorney general has argued that gambling regulation has traditionally been a state function, while federal derivatives regulation has focused on financial products. The states’ July comment to the CFTC said a proposed rule exceeded the agency’s statutory authority and that sports bets were not swaps, futures or derivatives used for hedging or price discovery.

Kalshi and Crypto.com began offering sports betting in January 2025 by characterizing the products as event contracts on federally regulated exchanges. The CFTC initially warned in September 2025 that it had not approved the contracts and that state law could lead to their termination, but Idaho’s office said the agency changed its position after new leadership took over later that year.

The legal question has produced conflicting court conclusions. In April, a divided Third Circuit held that the CFTC had exclusive jurisdiction over Kalshi’s sports-related event contracts and that Kalshi was likely to succeed in arguing that the Commodity Exchange Act pre-empted New Jersey gambling laws. Judge Jane R. Roth dissented, describing the products as gambling and arguing that the normal presumption against federal pre-emption should apply.

Kalshi also hosts 24 events tied to Idaho elections, with combined trading volume above $500,000. Its market on Labrador’s reelection contest had nearly $43,000 in bets and implied a 96% chance that he would defeat Lori Hickman. Jonathan Krutz said such platforms could permit wagering on events susceptible to manipulation or involving participants with inside information, and should be stopped until regulations and enforcement staff are in place.