Gamblers are betting on Gov. Shapiro for Harris’ VP pick as election predictions flood online markets
Online election betting markets have Shapiro pegged as one of Harris’ top picks — and users are betting millions on whether he or another contender, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Bashear or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, will earn her nod. Earlier this week, Polymarket users had bet that Shapiro would be the leading vice presidential contender; as of Tuesday afternoon, the governor had fallen to second place behind Kelly, with users predicting Shapiro had a 21% chance of being the nominee.
Election betting chatter has spread from gambling platforms to social media, particularly on X, formerly Twitter, where breaking campaign news is delivered to numbers-hungry users at lightning speed. “We’re not an election cop,” said Steven Adamske, the public affairs director for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Washington agency that regulates this type of trading. “It opens up a can of worms far greater than anybody can police — elections need to be decided by voters, not by people coming in betting against it or for it.”