The race for South Carolina governor isn’t much of a race, if the traders at Kalshi are right about it.
As of Thursday, Republican candidate Alan Wilson, the state’s attorney general, is trading at 93 cents to win over his Democratic opponent, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, who traders have at 6 cents.
And if this ends up being the result, sports betting in South Carolina may get a push from the governor’s office.
Speaking at a Lexington County Republican Party meeting earlier this year, Wilson said he was in favor of allowing online sports betting in South Carolina, per a report by The State. (He also said he was completely against casino gambling.)
“[The] internet is everywhere, and obviously, anybody can go online. I don’t want to criminalize conduct that people are doing on their phone,” Wilson said, according to the report. “I think brick-and-mortar gambling is very different than what people do on their phones. But at the same time, I just want to make sure that we’re very thoughtful about it.”
Johnson, for his part, said he wouldn’t do anything about sports betting unless a voter referendum compelled him to act.
Outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster has been a staunch opponent of any gambling expansion.
Other states
The Georgia race for governor is currently a toss-up at Kalshi, with Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, narrowly outpacing her Republican opponent, Rick Jackson, the founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare.
Bottoms is in favor of a voter referendum on sports betting, per an interview with Atlanta News First, while Jackson has not made his position clear as of yet. Current Gov. Brian Kemp has maintained a hands-off policy on the issue.
In Alabama, Sen. Tommy Tuberville — who was also a longtime NCAA football coach, most notably with Auburn — is running a 90-10 lead at Kalshi against his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones. Tuberville is pro-referendum when it comes to sports betting, while Jones, a former U.S. senator, hasn’t staked out a position on the issue. Current Gov. Kay Ivey supported a broad 2024 bill that included legalizing sports betting, but the legislation eventually collapsed.
In Minnesota’s gubernatorial contest, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, is looking like she’ll roll to victory over her Republican opponent, Rep. Lisa DeMuth, as Kalshi has the race 95-5 at the moment.
As senator, Klobuchar has been very active in trying to rein in prediction markets. She is also on record as not being one to think more gambling is the answer to anything.
“I do not want, as a matter of federal law, I would never vote as a matter of federal legislation to legalize gambling,” she said in a 2024 Senate committee hearing.
For what it’s worth, DeMuth voted against a sports betting bill in 2022. Current Gov. Tim Walz has long supported the idea of sports betting, provided it helped the state’s tribal interests.
Lastly, in Oklahoma, Mike Mazzei, the former Oklahoma Secretary of Budget running for governor, is expected to trounce his Democratic opponent, Cyndi Munson. Kalshi has it 92-8 at the moment.
Neither candidate has staked out a position on sports betting, but outgoing Gov. Kevin Stitt has long promised to veto any legislation granting Oklahoma’s tribes exclusivity over sports betting.
