Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein placed a $50 bet on himself to win his own party primary. The platform caught it, fined him $540, and banned him from the site. But here's the problem: Minnesota law didn't stop it. A private company did.

Prediction markets — online platforms where people bet real money on real-world events, including elections — have exploded from $9 billion in global volume in 2024 to over $60 billion in 2025. And right now, there is nothing stopping Minnesota politicians from wagering on their own races, their own legislation, or their own futures in office.

This is a conflict of interest hiding in plain sight. When an elected official can profit financially from the outcome of their own election, public trust erodes. Voters deserve to know that their representatives are working for them — not hedging their bets on the side.

Minnesota's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement division has been clear: a ban is more straightforward than regulation, and no one has figured out how to regulate these markets responsibly yet. While federal agencies and states like Nevada, Massachusetts, and Tennessee fight it out in court over who has jurisdiction, Minnesota has the chance to act now and protect its voters.

We're calling on the Minnesota Legislature to pass a ban on prediction markets in the state before the next election cycle. The rules governing our democracy should not have loopholes big enough for a sitting senator to accidentally fall into — and get away with, only because a private platform noticed first.

Sign this petition to urge Minnesota lawmakers to put election integrity ahead of a fast-moving, unregulated industry.