Kalshi suspends GOP House candidate Laurie Buckhout for betting on her own race

On August 31, 2026, prediction market Kalshi suspended North Carolina Republican House candidate Laurie Buckhout for three years and fined her after she purchased under $1,000 in contracts betting on her own race. Buckhout, running in a highly competitive redrawn swing district against Democratic incumbent Don Davis, called the wager a "dumb mistake." Davis and the DCCC criticized the action as a breach of public trust, while Kalshi also announced penalties for other political figures, including George Santos.

Buckhout Kalshi suspension

• ▪Online prediction market Kalshi suspended Republican House candidate Laurie Buckhout on August 31, 2026, after finding she was wagering on her own congressional race.
• ▪Laurie Buckhout received a three-year ban from the Kalshi platform and cooperated with the platform's inquiry into her trading activity.
• ▪Laurie Buckhout purchased less than $1,000 of contracts related to her own candidacy on the Kalshi platform.

Self-betting violation fine

• ▪Laurie Buckhout released a statement on August 31, 2026, calling the bet a "dumb mistake" and stating she worked to make it right once she learned of the issue.
• ▪Kalshi fined Laurie Buckhout over $2,500 for violating platform rules, with one source reporting a fine of $25,000 and others reporting a fine of nearly $2,600.

North Carolina 1st District race

• ▪North Carolina's 1st Congressional District was redrawn by the state legislature to transform it from a district Donald Trump won by 3 points in 2024 to one he would have carried by 12 points.
• ▪Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel, is running as the Republican nominee in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District against Democratic incumbent Representative Don Davis.

Davis criticism of opponent

• ▪Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Madison Andrus stated that the Kalshi announcement makes it appear Laurie Buckhout is getting a jump-start on insider trading aspirations.
• ▪Democratic Representative Don Davis criticized Laurie Buckhout on social media, calling her self-betting a "disqualifying breach of public trust" and accusing her of trading on insider information.

Other candidate violations

• ▪Kalshi fined and suspended former Maine Republican gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley and former California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck on August 31, 2026, for wagering on their campaigns.
• ▪Kalshi permanently banned former New York Representative George Santos and fined him over $71,000 for trading in markets related to his attendance at the State of the Union address.