Attorney General Mayes Charges Kalshi With Illegal Gambling Operation, Election Wagering in Arizona
PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes today filed criminal charges against KalshiEx LLC and Kalshi Trading LLC, the companies behind the Kalshi prediction markets platform, for operating an illegal gambling business in Arizona without a license as well as for election wagering.
"Kalshi may brand itself as a 'prediction market,' but what it's actually doing is running an illegal gambling operation and taking bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law," said Attorney General Mayes. "No company gets to decide for itself which laws to follow."
The 20-count criminal information alleges that Kalshi accepted bets from Arizona residents on a wide range of events in violation of Arizona law. These events included professional and college sporting contests, proposition bets on individual player performance, and whether the SAVE Act would become law. Among the charges are four counts of election wagering, including bets on the 2028 presidential race, the 2026 Arizona gubernatorial race, the 2026 Arizona Republican gubernatorial primary, and the 2026 Arizona Secretary of State race.
Arizona law prohibits operating an unlicensed wagering business, and separately bans betting on elections outright.
On Thursday, March 12, Kalshi sued the State of Arizona preemptively in an attempt to avoid accountability under Arizona law.
"Kalshi is making a habit of suing states rather than following their laws. In the last three weeks alone, the company has filed lawsuits against Iowa and Utah, and now Arizona," said Attorney General Mayes. "Rather than work within the legal frameworks that states like Arizona have established, Kalshi is running to federal court to try to avoid accountability."
Just last week, a federal judge in Ohio rejected this strategy, denying Kalshi's request for a preliminary injunction and making clear that the company's operational convenience does not override a state's authority to enforce its laws. As Judge Sarah Morrison put it, Kalshi's concerns were "dwarfed by Ohio's interest in exercising its police power, enforcing its duly-enacted laws, and regulating sports gambling to promote the public welfare.
“Arizona will not be bullied into letting any company place itself above state law,” said Attorney General Mayes.
A copy of today's filing is available here.