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- Following the recent prediction-market suspension of his political opponent, U.S. Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) has introduced the “No Betting on Your Own Race Act,” a federal bill that would strictly prohibit congressional candidates and their families from trading event contracts tied to their own elections.
- The legislative push directly responds to Kalshi penalizing Davis’ Republican opponent, Laurie Buckhout, for placing bets on her own campaign in August. The proposed measure aims to codify existing platform-level ethics rules into federal law, threatening violators with a $10,000 fine or three times their net financial gain from the trade.
Rep. Don Davis has introduced a bill that would ban federal candidates from trading prediction market contracts tied to their own elections, following a Kalshi enforcement action involving his Republican opponent in North Carolina.
The proposal, titled the “No Betting on Your Own Race Act,” would fine violators $10,000 or three times the net financial gain from the trade, whichever is larger. For prediction market operators and election-watchers, the bill adds a new federal ethics proposal to a debate that platforms have already been trying to address through their own rules.
Davis bill targets candidate trades on their own elections
Davis introduced the measure during a pro forma House session on Monday, according to CNBC. He said candidates for federal office should not be allowed to trade on their own races, comparing the issue to athletes betting on games they play in.
“We don’t want our athletes to bet on their games. A candidate running for federal elected office should be treated exactly the same and should not be allowed to trade on their own election,” Davis said.
The bill is aimed specifically at candidates for federal office who trade contracts connected to their own elections. CNBC reported that prediction market platforms have already sought to limit that activity because of insider-trading and ethics concerns.
That matters because election contracts have become a higher-profile part of the U.S. prediction market discussion, especially on platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket.
Kalshi penalty involving Buckhout helped drive the proposal
The bill comes after Laurie Buckhout, Davis’ Republican opponent in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, settled with Kalshi in August after the company found she traded on contracts tied to her candidacy.
According to CNBC, Buckhout paid a penalty of just under $2,600 and was suspended from Kalshi for three years. Buckhout said afterward, “I bet on myself. Literally,” and later called it “a dumb mistake.”
Davis described her conduct in a post on X as “a disqualifying breach of public trust.”
The timing makes clear the proposal is unlikely to affect the current election cycle. CNBC reported that the House and Senate are not scheduled to meet again until after the midterm elections, leaving the bill with little to no chance of becoming law before votes are cast.
What to watch next in Congress
The next question is whether the measure gets any committee consideration once Congress returns.
There is at least some recent Senate activity on the broader issue. In April, the Senate approved a resolution to ban senators and staff from trading on prediction markets. But that step did not extend to non-incumbent candidates running for the Senate, and the House has not passed a similar ban.
For now, Davis’ bill is best understood as an effort to formalize a restriction that some prediction market platforms have already tried to enforce themselves, while putting a defined federal penalty behind it if Congress eventually acts.
Source: As reported by cnbc.com.
