Kalshi suspends Republican House candidate Laurie Buckhout for three years over betting on her own election

Odaily Odaily News The prediction market exchange Kalshi has suspended North Carolina Republican House candidate Laurie Buckhout from trading for three years due to her trading of contracts related to her own congressional election. The settlement took effect on Friday, and she is also required to pay a fine of $2,589.96.

During her campaign against Democratic Rep. Don Davis for North Carolina's 1st Congressional District, Buckhout purchased related contracts worth less than $1,000. Under Kalshi's rules, candidates are considered persons with direct decision-making influence over outcomes and are prohibited from trading related contracts.

Kalshi has previously suspended Minnesota Senator Matt Klein, former Texas congressional candidate Ezekiel Enriquez, and Virginia Senate candidate Mark Moran for five years each over candidates betting on their own elections. Former Rep. George Santos was permanently banned for trading contracts related to his own attendance at the State of the Union address and was fined $71,356.

Buckhout won the Republican primary in March of this year and will face Don Davis again in the election; she previously lost by less than two percentage points in 2024. Kalshi is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and has processed tens of billions of dollars in trading volume over the past year. (Decrypt)