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

Online prediction market Kalshi suspended North Carolina Republican congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout for three years and fined her up to $25,000 for betting on her own race against Democratic Representative Don Davis. Buckhout called the wagers a "dumb mistake." The enforcement action comes amid a broader Kalshi crackdown on political figures trading on their own campaigns, including a lifetime ban for former Representative George Santos, as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission orchestrates a regulatory crackdown on prediction markets.

Kalshi suspension of Laurie Buckhout

• ▪Laurie Buckhout released a statement on August 31, 2026, calling her wagers on her own campaign a "dumb mistake" that she worked to correct
• ▪Kalshi fined Laurie Buckhout for wagering on her campaign, with sources reporting the fine amount as either $2,600 or $25,000
• ▪Online prediction market Kalshi suspended Republican House candidate Laurie Buckhout after finding she wagered on her own race
• ▪Laurie Buckhout placed less than $1,000 in bets on the prediction market Kalshi despite having direct influence over the outcome of her election
• ▪Laurie Buckhout agreed to a three-year suspension from the prediction market Kalshi starting August 28, 2026

North Carolina 1st District race

• ▪Laurie Buckhout is challenging incumbent Democratic Representative Don Davis, a former state legislator and U.S. Air Force officer, in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District
• ▪Laurie Buckhout, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former assistant secretary of Defense, is running as a Republican in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District
• ▪Representative Don Davis criticized Laurie Buckhout on August 31, 2026, calling her betting activity on the prediction market Kalshi a "disqualifying breach of public trust."
• ▪North Carolina's 1st Congressional District was redrawn by the state legislature to make the seat more favorable to Republicans

Kalshi insider trading enforcement

• ▪Kalshi is conducting ongoing investigations into other political figures who may have engaged in insider trading on the platform
• ▪Kalshi permanently banned former New York Representative George Santos and fined him over $71,000 for trading on markets related to his State of the Union attendance
• ▪Kalshi previously penalized political candidates Mark Moran of Virginia, Ezekiel Enriquez of Texas, and Matt Klein of Minnesota for betting on their own races
• ▪Kalshi suspended and fined former Maine gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley and former California gubernatorial candidate Stephen Cloobeck for wagering on their campaigns

Political prediction market regulation

• ▪Donald Trump Jr.’s investment fund, 1789, is reportedly investing an additional $300 million in prediction market platform Polymarket, bringing its total investment to $500 million
• ▪The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is orchestrating a regulatory crackdown on prediction markets
• ▪Kalshi banned political candidates from trading on their own campaigns in March 2026 under rules implemented amid congressional scrutiny of prediction markets

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