![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_207ByronDonalds24NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"U.S.")
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U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds and his wife Erika Donalds exchanged before speaking during a roundtable to discuss the future of education in Florida, held by the Congressman at Miami Dade College West Campus, as part of his campaign to run in the 2026 Republican primary for Florida Governor, in Doral on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
A platform that lets users wager on elections touted Byron Donalds\u2019 chances of winning Florida\u2019s gubernatorial race at a \u201cNEW ALL-TIME HIGH\u201d Monday, but what they didn\u2019t say is that they\u2019re also helping fund his campaign.<\/p>\n
The prediction market Kalshi, which lets people place money on the outcomes of various events including sports games and election outcomes, gave $25,000 to the Donalds campaign\u2019s political committee last year.<\/p>\n
The marketplace\u2019s rankings can influence public perception of political candidates. But the platform\u2019s political motivations aren\u2019t always clear to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople could be betting on the very political race that they themselves have made a huge wager on, in terms of their own investment,\u201d said Michael Beckel, the director of money in politics reform at the bipartisan think tank Issue One. \u201cThat\u2019s not information that most betters on prediction markets like Kalshi may even have access to or know about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donalds wrote \u201cwow\u201d on his personal X account in a repost of Kalshi\u2019s social media announcement that \u201cByron Donalds has a 95% chance to defeat James Fishback and Jay Collins in the Florida Republican Governor primary.\u201d<\/p>\n
His campaign said it didn\u2019t see a problem with Kalshi promoting his lead on their platform, while also being a campaign donor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe post was simply stating reality \u2014 that Byron Donalds is dominating the primary field on his way to winning the general election in November,\u201d said Gates McGavick, the Donalds campaign\u2019s communications director.<\/p>\n
Kalshi regularly shares posts about other candidates\u2019 standings in Florida\u2019s elections too, a Kalshi spokesperson Dani Lever noted in response to questions from the Miami Herald about the company\u2019s support for Donalds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe post about all candidates when their odds change, which is why we also posted about Fishback and Collins multiple times throughout this race,\u201d Lever said.<\/p>\n
But the campaign spending backing Donalds and the latest post about his \u201cnew all-time high\u201d comes at a time that prediction markets are looking for \u201cfriends in high places,\u201d Beckel said.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an ongoing debate over whether prediction markets should be regulated as gambling platforms under state laws, or as financial platforms under federal law.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u2019s administration is fighting to maintain the latter interpretation, and has been suing states<\/a> that try to regulate prediction markets as gambling platforms.<\/p>\n The question of state-level regulation is particularly pertinent in Florida, where only the Seminole Tribe can operate sports betting markets because of the state\u2019s exclusive gambling agreement with the tribe.<\/p>\n As long as Kalshi\u2019s markets are treated as financial exchanges under federal law, they can operate outside the scope of Florida\u2019s gambling laws and let people wager funds on the outcomes of events \u2014 including on sports games.<\/p>\n \u201cThis moment really represents a regulatory gap,\u201d Beckel said. \u201cCompanies like Kalshi \u2026 are trying to make sure that they have supportive people in their corner at this time when there is so much decision-making happening about how these companies could be regulated.\u201d<\/p>\n Donalds isn\u2019t the only potential voice on how Kalshi is regulated in Florida who is receiving campaign funds from the company.<\/p>\n Attorney General James Uthmeier\u2019s political committee received a $50,000 donation last year and his campaign received a $3,000 contribution last month, according to state campaign finance reports.<\/p>\n The company has also donated $25,000 apiece to the state\u2019s Republican House and Senate campaign committees, $25,000 to a political committee run by state House Speaker Danny Perez and $5,000 to a political committee run by future state House Speaker Mike Redondo over the past year, finance reports show.<\/p>\n Kalshi is making investments in elections across the country, and for both political parties, leading into the 2026 elections.<\/p>\n The platform has also donated<\/a> about $40,000 to California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, who is leading in Kalshi\u2019s prediction market on that race.<\/p>\n Herald\/Times Tallahassee Bureau correspondent Garrett Shanley contributed to this report.<\/p>\n This story has been updated to reflect Michael Beckel\u2019s current title at Issue One.<\/p>\n This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 4:07 PM.<\/p>\n