27 September 2026
By shaking up election campaigns and wagering practices, gambling-related money is challenging the rules and expectations of the 2026 midterms. From sweeps of gambling-linked cash in state politics to a flood of controversial bets on predictive markets, the ways gambling is shaping the election are pushing the edges of campaign integrity and honing scrutiny on US regulators and lawmakers.
Alabama Conservatives Sound Alarm on Electoral Influence
A coalition of nine organizations, from the Center for Public Integrity to the National Federation of Independent Business, sent a stark letter last May to Alabama’s Attorney General and Secretary of State. It read: "In recent cycles, massive amounts of gambling money have flowed into election campaigns across the nation, raising serious questions about the ability of a politician to maintain public confidence while being a beneficiary of the gambling industry."
While the letter did not name specific politicians or election winners, the organizations' concern was clear: that heightened gambling-linked money could alter the election's outcomes. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen's office echoed this concern, stating that gambling money flowing from connected political action committees must be declared whenever it aims to sway Alabama elections.
Running through the heart of the activists' concern was the American Conservative Fund (ACF), a super PAC based in Virginia that took in some $40 million from sports betting behemoths FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics. As one of the biggest recipients of gambling-linked funding, the ACF is now a key player for Republican campaigns in 2026.
The ‘Progressive Left’ PACs
Of course, Republicans aren't the only players. On the "progressive left," at least $34.5 million flowed from online gambling giants like FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics into American Future, another super PAC. State regulators say these donations align the sports betting industry with both major parties for the 2026 midterms.
As gambling-generated cash floods into state races and national super PACs, it surpasses past fundraising benchmarks. Public Citizen estimates the sports betting industry has become the third-largest corporate election donor in the 2026 cycle, behind only technology and cryptocurrency companies. Collectively, corporations have already spent some $517 million mainly through super PACs to sway the 2026 election, and this represents nearly one-third of all corporate election spending since 2010.
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"Comprehensive Super PAC disclosures"
Targeting concerns about disclosure, Senator Arthur Orr of Alabama introduced bill SB220: a move to require nonprofit corporations donating to Alabama candidates to register as a political donor organization and disclose donors giving $100 or more. If passed, SB220 would call for super PACs like the ACF to clarify their funding paths and express their backers -- but as of mid-2026, the bill had not made it to a Senate vote.
More Than Money
But money from top gambling companies is no longer the only issue. In 2026, online gambling markets are transforming into new fronts in the midterms.
By September, electoral bettors had shifted more than $750 million between Kalshi and Polymarket, rival market hubs where politics meet the sportsbook. Stranger still, the market's prominent financier and Democratic nominee who lost a March primary on the very same platform.
Kalshi tightened their limits for political bets this year, and most states’ election laws don't keep pace with the dumping millions into predictive markets. Fueled by historic trading volumes and populated by who knows besides "some Chinese guy," these new gaming frontiers can’t reshuffle political race order without some extra scrutiny.