Prediction market Kalshi registers as New Mexico lobbyist employer ahead of legislative session

Amid ongoing litigation with New Mexico pueblos, online prediction market Kalshi has registered as a lobbyist employer ahead of next year’s legislative session.

According to New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office filings, Kalshi officials registered in late August as a lobbyist employer, which state law requires for organizations or businesses that intend to lobby elected officials or lawmakers. 

The company has not yet hired a New Mexico lobbyist, and its most-recent filings in early October show it has not yet spent any money on lobbying activities in the state.

The filing does not say which issues or legislation the company seeks to influence at the 60-day legislative session beginning Jan. 19. State law does not require lobbyists to disclose that information. 

Blake Bee, Kalshi’s director of state relations, signed the form on the company’s behalf and listed an address that corresponds to a UPS store in Glendale, Ariz. Bee did not respond to Source NM’s phone call seeking comment Tuesday. 

In May, the Pojoaque, Sandia and Isleta Pueblos, along with the Mescalero Apache Tribe, alleged in federal court that Kalshi violates tribal gaming compacts and federal law by providing anyone over age 18 access to sports gambling in New Mexico.

Under existing state gaming compacts and federal law, only people aged 21 and over in New Mexico can place bets on sports in person at tribally owned casinos. The plaintiffs argue that Kalshi is causing irreparable harm to tribal governments, which rely on gambling revenues to fund schools and other services.

Kalshi’s lawyers have countered that the federal Commodities Exchange Act trumps the federal  Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, as well as state gaming compacts, and contends the federal Commodities Futures Trading Commission has sole authority for regulating the platform.

Still, Kalshi has come under increasing scrutiny from state and tribal governments that allege the platform is undermining their gambling laws. Some states have sought to regulate the company’s activities and others have sued it in federal and state court. 

In response, Kalshi, its competitor Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent at least $3 million on lobbying and campaign contributions across the federal and state levels in recent months, according to an analysis by Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization tracking money in politics.

New Mexico tribe and pueblos wrap up case that Kalshi sports betting hurts their sovereignty

In a statement, Kalshi spokesperson Jacki McGavick did not respond to Source NM’s questions about which legislation or issues Kalshi might seek to influence in New Mexico, or whether it intended to hire a local lobbyist. Instead, she reiterated the company’s contention that New Mexico and other states have no legal authority to regulate it. 

“As a national derivatives market overseen by the CFTC, Kalshi answers to federal law,” she said. “However, states like New Mexico can still play a part within the federal framework.”

New Mexico Rep. Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) the chair of the state Legislature’s House Taxation and Finance Committee, attended closing arguments in federal court in September in the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against Kalshi and has been working closely with gaming tribes on the issue. 

He said he’s meeting with the New Mexico Coalition of Gaming Tribes next week to discuss, among other issues, how the Legislature might address prediction markets’ operations.

Leaders of tribal governments in the gaming coalition could not be reached Tuesday. Their lawsuit remains pending in federal court. 

Lente told Source NM on Tuesday that he was not aware Kalshi had registered as a lobbyist employer, but said the news was not unexpected given the proliferation of the markets and amount of revenue they generate. 

“It does not surprise me that they would have some paid lobbyists come through now,” Lente said. “I think the move to online gaming is going to be much more pushed upon states that have withheld for the sake of supporting tribal gaming compacts.”