Ex-Dem senator who sought to crack down on sports gambling now lobbying for Kalshi — as firm rakes in $480K: report
Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln, once a critic of sports-event contracts, now lobbies for Kalshi, which has paid her firm $480,000.Summary
Former Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln, who as chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee in 2010 helped write Dodd-Frank provisions giving the CFTC authority to ban event contracts deemed contrary to the public interest, has reversed her position and now lobbies for prediction market giant Kalshi. According to Ars Technica, Kalshi has paid Lincoln's firm $480,000 since 2024. Lincoln, who once argued that sports-event contracts like those tied to the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, and Masters served no real commercial purpose and were solely for gambling, now contends that such contracts have strong commercial value and that markets should determine their worth. She has urged the CFTC to assert exclusive federal authority over prediction markets and not to ban Kalshi's sports-event contracts, which the company began offering in January 2025. This shift occurs amid a nationwide legal battle over whether Kalshi and rival Polymarket can offer sports wagers under federal financial regulations without complying with state gambling laws. Lincoln Policy Group defended her work, saying properly regulated prediction markets can serve legitimate financial purposes, while Kalshi declined to comment on her reversal but defended its contracts as tools for businesses to hedge risks.
(Source：New York Post)