Adrian Fontes bans staff from election betting amid prediction market crackdown

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Thursday barred employees from using nonpublic information acquired through their jobs to profit from prediction markets or event wagering tied to elections.

Violations could result in termination and referral to law enforcement.

“My top priority is to protect the integrity of our elections above all else,” Fontes said in a statement while issuing the policy ahead of next week’s primary elections.

Gov. Katie Hobbs led the charge on the topic, issuing an executive order last week prohibiting state executive branch employees from insider trading on prediction markets. Hobbs urged other government entities to follow her lead.

Fontes announced the policy for his office a day after the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a similar ban for its roughly 13,000 employees.

Election wagering is already illegal under Arizona law, but the growing popularity of platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket has pushed officials to reinforce restrictions.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Kalshi earlier this year, accusing the company of illegally accepting bets.

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