AWKWARD ODDS: Ford Campaign Cites Prediction Markets While His AG’s Office Fights Them in Court

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s campaign for governor is facing an awkward gambling-policy contradiction after reportedly citing prediction-market odds in a campaign fundraising pitch while Ford’s own office is simultaneously fighting to keep major prediction-market operators out of Nevada.

Nevada Independent gaming reporter Howard Stutz flagged the campaign email Tuesday, writing that Ford’s gubernatorial operation had cited how prediction markets were ranking the race.

“Interesting,” Stutz wrote. “@AaronDFordNV for Governor sent an email pitch citing how prediction markets are ranking the race.”

Then came the problem.

“Prediction markets are illegal in Nevada,” Stutz noted, adding that Ford’s Attorney General’s Office is representing the Nevada Gaming Control Board in litigation against companies including Kalshi.

That characterization reflects an ongoing legal battle in which Nevada regulators have moved aggressively against prediction-market operators offering event contracts without state gaming licenses. In March, a Nevada state court temporarily barred Kalshi from offering sports, election and entertainment event contracts in the state. The Gaming Control Board has brought similar actions against Polymarket and Coinbase. 

Ford’s office has hardly been a passive participant.

The Attorney General’s Gaming Division represents the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and attorneys from Ford’s office have personally litigated the state’s enforcement action against Kalshi. Court filings list Ford as attorney general above the state lawyers representing the board.

Ford has also publicly celebrated victories over the industry.

After Nevada secured an injunction against Polymarket in June, Ford declared that “unlicensed prediction markets may not disregard the law” and said such companies could not evade Nevada’s gaming regulations through what he called “muddled loopholes.” 

In August, Ford again took a victory lap after the Ninth Circuit allowed Nevada to enforce its gaming laws against Kalshi’s sports-event contracts, calling the ruling a “major victory for Nevada” and promising to continue defending the state’s authority over gambling. 

That makes the campaign’s reported use of prediction-market odds particularly conspicuous.

Elizabeth Ray, a spokeswoman for Gov. Joe Lombardo, blasted the apparent disconnect after Stutz highlighted the email.

“Absolutely absurd,” Ray wrote on X. “Nevada reporters have an obligation to ask the AG’s office about this breach and conflict of interest. Wow.”

The available evidence does not establish that Ford or his campaign placed wagers, used a prediction-market platform inside Nevada or violated state law simply by citing market-implied odds. Nor does Ray’s allegation itself establish a legal conflict of interest.

But politically, the optics are difficult to miss.

Ford’s government office has spent months arguing that prediction-market companies must obey Nevada gaming law and helping regulators keep them from operating unlicensed inside the state. His political campaign is now reportedly pointing to those same types of markets when their numbers are useful enough to put in an email.

Nevada’s fight with prediction markets has become one of the most consequential gaming-regulation battles in the country. Ford has repeatedly placed himself at the center of that fight.

Now his campaign may have handed reporters a much simpler question: if prediction markets are problematic enough for the attorney general to battle in court, why are their odds good enough for the candidate for governor to tout on the campaign trail?

Speak Up, Nevada! What’s on Your Mind? Send us your opinion!

Got the inside scoop on something happening in Nevada? Or the country? Do you have thoughts about life in Nevada that are too good to keep to yourself? Whether it’s a hot take on our politics, crime, education, or even the secret to surviving our summers, we’re all ears! Swing them our way at editor@thenevadaglobe.com. Come on, give us the scoop on what makes Nevada tick—or what ticks you off. Let’s make some noise and have some fun with it!