# Peter Neronha **Peter Neronha** has been Rhode Island's Democratic attorney general since January 2019. He was [[Barack Obama]]'s U.S. attorney for Rhode Island (2009–2017), where he made public corruption the office's top priority, and he was among the U.S. attorneys [[Jeff Sessions]] asked to resign in 2017. He is term-limited and leaves office in January 2027. His former policy chief, Keith Hoffmann, is one of the Democrats running to succeed him, with Neronha's endorsement. ## Suing Kalshi and Polymarket (May 2026) On **May 21, 2026**, Neronha sued [[Kalshi]] and [[Polymarket]] in Rhode Island Superior Court. He asked the court to declare their sports event contracts illegal gambling under state law, to bar them permanently, and to order restitution and disgorgement. Kalshi filed its own federal suit against Rhode Island officials the same week. - "There is no substantive difference between sports betting and 'events contracts' in this context." - The companies should "abide by our state laws, and disgorge their profits." The complaint makes an unusual constitutional argument. Rhode Island's constitution requires **voter approval by referendum** for new forms of gambling, so unlicensed sports contracts bypass the voters, not just the regulators. It also turns Kalshi's own words against it: the company has called its products "betting" and "wagering," and told the D.C. Circuit that sports event contracts are "casino gambling." The state's case for urgency: sports betting has brought Rhode Island **$2.8 billion** in revenue since 2019, and the state lottery says bets fell 8% from 2024 to 2025, which it blames on prediction markets. The [[CFTC]] moved to intervene on **May 29**, the one state in its campaign where it intervened in a state-court case rather than file its own federal suit. See [[CFTC v. Arizona]]. ## See also - [[CFTC v. Arizona]] · [[Kalshi]] · [[Polymarket]] · [[Sports Betting]]