Online prediction market Kalshi suspended a Republican House candidate Monday after it found that she was wagering on her own race.
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The candidate, Laurie Buckhout, is running in a district in northeastern North Carolina, a swing district that Republicans see as a pick-up opportunity. The GOP redrew the state’s congressional map to make the seat less safe for her Democratic opponent, incumbent Don Davis.
Kalshi said in a statement that Buckhout broke rules banning political candidates from placing bets on their own race. Buckhout wagered less than $1,000 on her own candidacy, according to Kalshi, which did not provide an exact dollar figure. Buckhout cooperated with Kalshi’s investigation, the company said.
The Republican was suspended from Kalshi’s platform for three years and must pay a fine of about $2,600.
Buckhout, a retired Army colonel, recognized the incident in a statement to The Washington Post, saying she “bet on myself. Literally.”
“It was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right,” Buckhout said. “Safe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived.”
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The growth of online prediction markets has spawned a new avenue for government and political figures to profit from inside information, which the platforms are trying to police.
In April, Kalshi doled out five-year suspensions to three congressional candidates who placed bets on their races.
Earlier Monday, Kalshi banned former Republican congressman George Santos for life after he failed to comply with a company investigation. Santos was fined earlier this year by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for insider trading after he influenced a market bet over whether he would attend the State of the Union address this year. Santos is the first person to receive a lifetime ban from Kalshi.
Kalshi, in an email to The Post on Monday, said that it expects some candidates will wager on its platform but that they would face consequences for doing so.
“Just like the stock market — yes, we expect insider trading and market manipulation to happen. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of catching it and taking action swiftly,” said Kalshi spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana.
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