KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Nebraska is the only state where voters will decide on a statewide gambling issue on Election Day.
- Governor and legislative races in Texas, Minnesota, Ohio and more will shape which gambling bills could move in 2027.
- A Democratic sweep of Congress would give the party new oversight tools over the CFTC, but it would not easily produce a new prediction market law.
Voters head to the polls Tuesday for the 2026 election with one statewide sports betting question, a handful of local casino votes and dozens of races that will decide who controls gambling policy in the next few legislative sessions.
In Nebraska, voters will decide whether to expand sports betting online, as DraftKings and FanDuel fueled the campaign with more than $20m in donations.
But most of the action will sit with candidates. Lieutenant governors, governors and legislative majorities in several states without legal sports betting or iCasino could determine whether gambling expansion bills get hearings, floor votes or a signature next year.
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., control of Congress will decide who holds the gavel over the regulator at the center of the prediction market fight.
States that could see the gambling discussion change after Tuesday:
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Minnesota
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Wisconsin
Will Alabama expand gambling?
Alabama has no lottery, and both candidates for governor say voters should get a say on one.
Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville said he would not block a public vote but wants lawmakers to write a comprehensive plan rather than handle a lottery, casinos and other gambling piece by piece, AL.com reported.
“I’m not going to stand in the way of it,” Tuberville said.
Democrat Doug Jones said he would push for both a lottery bill and a broader gambling package, and he would split off a standalone lottery vote if lawmakers cannot agree on the larger plan.
Alabama lawmakers regularly discuss various gambling expansion plans, but none have crossed the finish line. Any expansion still requires a constitutional amendment from the Legislature before it reaches voters.
Could Georgia see sports betting or casinos?
Similar to Alabama, Georgia lawmakers have discussed gambling expansion for years, coming close to passing sports betting several times.
Georgia’s open governor’s race is a toss-up between Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms and Republican Rick Jackson.
Bottoms supports letting voters decide on statewide casino gambling and pointed to more than $300m in projected revenue to expand pre-kindergarten access, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The sports betting industry focused its money farther down the ballot. Win for America, a committee funded by DraftKings and FanDuel, accounted for $12.3m in independent spending on Georgia legislative races through the first half of the year, nearly half of all outside spending in the state, according to the AJC. Nearly all 34 candidates the industry backed in primaries won.
Will Minnesota agree on sports betting?
Every legislative seat is on the ballot in Minnesota, one of the few states without legal sports betting. It is another state that frequently has considered gambling expansion without getting it over the finish line despite bipartisan support and a once-reported deal in place to legalize sportsbooks.
The House began last year evenly split, and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has strong prospects to regain a trifecta, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the DFL nominee, faces House Speaker Lisa Demuth for governor. Neither candidate has made sports betting a part of their platform, but Minnesota sports teams, who back of a legalized market, have donated to Klobuchar, according to the Star Tribune.
New York prediction markets battle at stake
Gov. Kathy Hochul leads Republican Bruce Blakeman by 14 points in a recent Quinnipiac poll, City & State reported. Neither candidate has committed to signing online casino legislation, which has been proposed in the Empire State.
The sharper contrast is on prediction markets, as Hochul’s gaming commission is in court trying to force Kalshi to turn over records on its sports contracts.
Blakeman supports allowing online prediction markets.
New opening for Ohio iCasino?
A new Ohio governor could lead to online casino expansion, as outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine has been a vocal critic of iCasino proposals after expressing regrets about legalizing sports betting.
Democrat Amy Acton supports legalizing new forms of online gambling to fund schools, child care and property-tax relief, and she would keep the 20% sports betting tax, Cleveland.com reported. Libertarian Don Kissick also supports expansion.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has not committed to specific changes but said he would take a “holistic” look at Ohio’s gambling rules as part of a search for new revenue.
Oklahoma could see new path to sports betting
Gov. Kevin Stitt is term-limited, ending eight years of conflict with tribal governments over gaming compacts. Republican Mike Mazzei faces Democrat Cyndi Munson, the House minority leader, in a state where Republican supermajorities have dominated for more than a decade.
The Senate killed the latest sports betting bill before it reached Stitt’s desk. Lawmakers rejected HB 1047, which would have given tribes exclusive rights to retail and mobile sports betting, after the Oklahoma City Thunder and most member tribes of the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association endorsed it.
Neither Mazzei nor Munson has staked out a public position on sports betting. Munson was the only candidate for governor who attended a United Indian Nations of Oklahoma meeting, where she pledged to affirm tribal sovereignty, KOSU reported. Mazzei praised the Choctaw Nation and Chief Gary Batton at an Oct. 1 Republican rally at the Choctaw Nation Event Center in Durant and said he looked forward to “great collaborative work.”
Change of heart for South Carolina gambling?
Gov. Henry McMaster‘s departure removes a certain veto, and the candidates to replace him split on casinos.
At the only general election debate, Democrat Jermaine Johnson said he would support casinos if voters approved them, while Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would oppose casinos even with voter support, the SC Daily Gazette reported.
Wilson does support online sports betting, The State reported.
Any ballot question would need supermajorities in both chambers, with November 2028 as the earliest possible vote.
Will Texas sports betting roadblock stay put?
The race that matters most for Texas gambling is lieutenant governor.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who controls the Senate floor, is staunchly anti-gambling and sidelined sports betting bills in previous sessions.
Democratic state Rep. Vikki Goodwin narrowly led in an October poll despite Patrick holding the office and a significant fundraising gap, The Texas Tribune reported.
Goodwin previously said Texans should vote on casinos and sports betting, but she has not made it a campaign focus. A constitutional amendment still requires two-thirds of both chambers.
Patrick also directed senators to study the “sudden inundation of prediction market gambling” ahead of the 2027 session.
Is Wisconsin sports betting coming?
The next governor will decide when Wisconsin gets online sports betting.
Gov. Tony Evers signed Act 247 in April, allowing statewide mobile betting as long as the servers sit on tribal land. But betting cannot begin until the state renegotiates compacts with the tribes and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs approves them.
Evers, who is not seeking reelection, said he would only back a structure that benefits all 11 tribes equally, such as a joint venture, WisPolitics reported.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany faces Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive. Tiffany said he opposes any gambling expansion and did not take a clear position on the bill.
The law also faces a court challenge. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty sued in Waukesha County, arguing the law grants special privileges based on race. Eight tribes asked the judge to dismiss the case, citing sovereign immunity, and a scheduling conference is set for Nov. 9, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Congress could pressure the CFTC
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have filed nearly 30 prediction market bills since 2025, mostly by House Democrats, and none have passed, CNBC reported. Democrats would gain subpoena power, with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) in line to chair House Oversight and examine Donald Trump Jr.‘s ties to Kalshi and Polymarket.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which is fighting to retain its exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets, has operated with only Chairman Michael Selig and four vacant seats since last year. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has already submitted names for the Democratic seats, CNBC reported. A Democratic Senate would control which nominees advance.
Any bill still faces a 60-vote Senate threshold and President Donald Trump‘s veto pen. That favors bipartisan vehicles such as the Prediction Market Act from Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) which would add insider trading bans and retail protections under CFTC oversight, according to Gillibrand’s office. Bills that hand authority back to states, such as Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s Prediction Markets Security and Integrity Act of 2026, would likely face longer odds.
Committee leadership is also in flux. Klobuchar, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, would leave the Senate if she wins Minnesota’s governor’s race. House Agriculture ranking member Rep. Angie Craig gave up her seat to run for Senate and lost the DFL primary to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, MPR News reported.
