Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has called on state senators to fight prediction markets, marking the first public statement of opposition to the rising vertical from an authority in the state.
Patrick published his “2026 Interim Legislative Charges” Friday, a list of policy proposals on which he wants state senators to focus.
One of those priorities was “Closing Gambling Loopholes.”
This point read: “Study the sudden inundation of prediction market gambling and the exploitation of federal law to circumvent Texas gambling prohibitions by allowing users to place bets on the outcome of elections and other events. Examine the relationship between federally regulated derivative markets and state-prohibited gambling. Make recommendations to ensure the integrity of Texas elections and Texas sports.”
The priorities were first reported by The Texas Tribune.
It is not clear to what extent a state can take action to slow or stop prediction markets. Several states have tried to shut down operation within their boundaries of large prediction markets such as Kalshi, but courts are still working out whether they have jurisdiction to do so. Prediction markets generally argue that they are subject only to federal law and that state gambling regulations or bans do not apply to them.
So far, one state, Nevada, has successfully forced Kalshi to take down its sports contracts, via a 14-day temporary restraining order that is set to expire Friday.
Patrick is outspoken gambling opponent
Patrick has been an outspoken and influential opponent of legalized gambling in Texas, which does not have state-regulated sports betting or commercial casinos. The state’s lieutenant governor oversees its Senate.
While prediction markets don’t report state-by-state data, many observers have speculated that states without legal sportsbooks such as Texas are disproportionately represented among prediction markets’ userbases.
Texas is home to more than 30 million people, meaning that almost a quarter of Americans that do not have access to online sportsbooks in their home state are Texans. Kalshi has recorded more than $12 billion in volume in March alone, meaning that even if activity in Texas is just proportional to the state’s population, Texans are likely staking more than a billion dollars in a single month.
Authorities in Texas had previously been quiet on prediction markets. When 39 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in a Fourth Circuit case against prediction markets, Texas was not represented. The state also does not appear to have sent a cease-and-desist order to any prediction markets, or taken action in state court like authorities in Massachusetts, Nevada, Washington, or Michigan have.
