Sign up for the daily CJR newsletter . When Kevin Ortega‑Rojas, who is thirty-two, posted about a Texas Senate race in February, he knew it could be controversial. On HeresWhyKevin, his largest social media account, he expounds on political news to five hundred thousand Instagram followers. The post was not only about the election; it also speculated on who would win according to bettors on a platform called Kalshi, where people can wager on events. He’d posted about wagers before, but this time the post was a paid partnership with Kalshi. The comments were swift and unforgiving. “This should be fucking illegal,” one follower wrote.  “Disappointing,” wrote another. Ortega-Rojas’s followers were accusing him of selling out. Some threatened to unfollow him, upset that he seemed to be encouraging betting on elections. (Prediction markets, particularly those tied to elections and war, have drawn a growing backlash .) The scale of the response surprised him, he told me.…