How the NC legislature got bamboozled by gambling interests on "prediction market" bill

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How the NC legislature got bamboozled by gambling interests on "prediction market" bill

Published: Friday, July 31st, 2026 @ 10:54 am
By: John Steed ( More Entries )

The pay-for-play system in our legislature, pioneered by Democrats like Liston Ramsey and Marc Basnight, and kicked into high gear by establishment Republicans Phil Berger, Thom Tillis, and Tim Moore, has let the special interests run rampant over NC citizens. One result has been Berger, in the hip pocket of the gambling special interests, pushing their agenda in the legislature, with willing accomplices in the House. The latest example is the awful "prediction market" gambling bill passed this year which is regarded as the most extreme in the nation.

Now a prominent former United States Attorney breaks down what is so bad with that bill:

https://dailyhaymaker.com/north-carolina-got-hoodwinked-on-prediction-market-gambling/

Of course, it was only last session that grassroots legislators in the House led by conservative Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) rallied together to stop Berger's NC casino bill dead in its tracks in the House after it had passed the senate. Unfortunately, that led the gambling lobby to dump millions of dollars into NC legislative primaries against conservatives. Not only did they buy open seat races for establishment moderates over conservatives, but they helped defeat a conservative incumbent state senator and two conservative incumbent representatives, including Rep. Keith Kidwell. That has made legislators much more gun shy in opposing their demands, leading to thinks like this awful "prediction market" gambling bill.

For those following the 79th district race, it was the gambling PAC, using the made up name "American Conservative Fund" running the TV ads while the Big Ag special interest PAC did the postcard blitz.

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Concerned Taxpayer said:

( August 1st, 2026 @ 2:29 pm )

This Big Gambling special interest is a good example of just how dishonest these special interest PACs are in our elections. They hung two names on their PAC that made it look like they were not associated with gambling, to fool voters. Much of the money was put through a PAC they crated and named "American Conservative Fund" even though the candidates they were opposing were the conservatives and the ones they were pushing were establishment moderates. If they were honest, they would have called themselves the "American Gamblish Fund" or at least the "Anti-Conservative Fund."

Then they pulled a sneaky trick of running a heavy schedule of last minute ads, knowing their opponents resources were already committed and they were not often in a position to respond. They often told outright lies about their opponents, like blasting Kidwell, who had the best record in the legislature of fighting for tax cuts, as having "raised taxes." Special interests tell lies in politics to promote their own agendas.

North Carolina lost a number of taxpayer champions in our legislature because a sneaky dishonest gambling special interest told lies about them and plastered those lies in TV ads which too many voters fell for.

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