Firm offers bets on congressional elections after judge clears way; appeal looms [Video]

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — You can now do more than just vote in this fall’s Congressional elections: You can bet on them, too.

A startup company on Thursday began taking what amounts to bets on the outcome of the November Congressional elections after a judge refused to block them from doing so.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb in Washington permitted the only legally sanctioned bets on U.S. elections by an American jurisdiction.

It enabled, at least temporarily, New York-based Kalshi to offer prediction contracts — essentially yes-or-no bets — on which party will win control of the Senate and the House in November.

The company and its lawyer did not respond to requests for comment, but within 90 minutes of the judge’s ruling, the bets were being advertised on the company’s web site. Earlier in the day, the website had said they were “coming soon.”

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