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The Scoop Kalshi has hired one of former President Barack Obama’s top advisers, political strategist Eric Schultz, a person familiar with the matter told Semafor — the latest sign of companies anticipating Democratic victories in Tuesday’s midterms. Schultz signed a short-term contract to serve as an out-of-house adviser to Kalshi, a second person familiar with the matter said. His hiring comes as Kalshi users forecast a 91% chance that Democrats win a majority in the House and a 65% chance of a Democratic Senate majority. No matter how well Democrats perform, prediction markets may find themselves facing tougher scrutiny in the next Congress, since lawmakers in both parties have expressed skepticism of the Trump administration’s favorable regulatory approach. Kalshi did not provide a comment. Schultz, who has maintained his own consulting firm since Obama left office, did not return a request for comment. Schultz, who previously served as Obama’s deputy White House press secretary, is one of several Democrats the firm has brought on this year. It has also tapped another Obama aide, Stephanie Cutter, as well as former Biden administration official John Bivona. Businesses in adjacent industries are also stockpiling Democratic lobbyists — and occasionally phasing out Republican hands — in preparation for 2027. Veteran GOP adviser Joel Kaplan recently announced his departure as Meta’s global policy chief, while OpenAI recently hired Jessica Schumer, daughter of the Senate Democratic leader, to focus on the Northeast. Kalshi’s Democratic firepower extends to its legal team: Neal Katyal, the attorney who convinced the Supreme Court to strike down President Donald Trump’s tariffs, is representing the prediction market in its legal battle against states and tribes. The Kalshi-backed Coalition for Prediction Markets is represented by the Biden administration’s solicitor general, Elizabeth Prelogar, and helmed by a former House Democrat, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York. Some of the industry’s new hires could get pulled back into politics next year if Democrats choose to dig into the Trump administration’s involvement with prediction markets. Maloney, who twice voted to impeach Trump, at the time called for Kalshi and Polymarket investor Donald Trump Jr. to testify before Congress. Notable - Kaplan’s selection as global policy chief in early 2025 left Meta “well-placed for a Republican-dominated Washington,” Semafor reported at the time. - Trump’s top prediction market regulator told Semafor that he’s weighing further legal action against states that try to regulate the industry.
document fetched 2026-10-29 03:03 · canonical https://semafor.com/article/10/28/2026/kalshi-hires-former-obama-adviser