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House Democrat Proposes Ban on Candidates Trading on Their Own Elections

Rep. Don Davis’s proposed No Betting on Your Own Race Act would bar federal candidates from trading contracts on their own elections. It follows Kalshi’s penalty and three-year suspension of Laurie Buckhout.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Rep. Don Davis introduced the proposed No Betting on Your Own Race Act on October 5, 2026, after Kalshi penalized his former Republican opponent, Laurie Buckhout, for trading contracts tied to her candidacy. The measure would prohibit federal candidates from trading contracts related to their own elections and impose a civil penalty of $10,000 or three times net financial gain, whichever is greater. It is a proposal—not an established federal ban.

Why Davis introduced the proposal

According to a contemporaneous report, Davis introduced the measure during a House pro forma session. He framed it as a conflict-of-interest rule comparable to restrictions against athletes betting on their own games: “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 in a statement. Read Davis’s reported statement.

The bill’s reported name is the No Betting on Your Own Race Act. The available reporting describes a ban on federal candidates trading contracts related to their own elections. It does not establish that the proposal would cover spouses, campaign committees, indirect holdings, or political contracts about other subjects.

What happened in Buckhout’s Kalshi case

Kalshi’s August 28, 2026 settlement notice says Buckhout purchased less than $1,000 worth of contracts related to her own candidacy. It records a $2,589.96 financial penalty and a three-year restriction from trading on Kalshi. The notice says Buckhout accepted the findings. Read Kalshi’s settlement notice.

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After the case, Buckhout said: “I bet on myself. Literally,’’ Buckhout said in a statement Monday. “It was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right. Safe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived.” The statement was reported by Roll Call.

How Kalshi’s rule differs from the proposed federal law

Kalshi applied its own Rule 5.17(z), which bars a trader from attempting to trade directly or indirectly on a contract when they have influence over the outcome of its underlying event. The exchange characterized a candidate as a direct decision-maker in a contract on that candidate’s election. See Kalshi Rule 5.17(z).

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Mechanism Scope and enforcer Consequence described in the available reporting
Kalshi Rule 5.17(z) Exchange rule applied by Kalshi to traders it determines can influence an event underlying a contract. Kalshi imposed a $2,589.96 penalty and three-year platform trading restriction on Buckhout in this case.
Proposed No Betting on Your Own Race Act Reportedly would apply to federal candidates trading contracts related to their own elections; the terms are attributed to reporting because the official bill text was not verified. Would set a civil penalty of $10,000 or three times net financial gain, whichever is greater, if enacted.

These are distinct systems: Kalshi’s discipline is an exchange action under its rules, while Davis’s proposal would create a federal statutory penalty if it became law. Kalshi said in an April 2026 account that its safeguards had flagged three candidate-trading cases and that those matters resulted in exchange discipline rather than referral to the CFTC or DOJ. That is Kalshi’s characterization of its enforcement, not an independent review. Read Kalshi’s account of its enforcement.

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Is candidate trading now illegal under federal law?

The reporting available for this article establishes that Davis introduced a proposal; it does not establish that the measure passed or became law. The official bill number, full text, current tracker status, and prospects for passage were not verified. Treat the stated scope and proposed penalty as reported terms, not as a description of current federal law. Read the report summarizing the proposal.

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