House Democrat Introduces Bill to Ban Federal Candidates From Trading on Their Own Elections

U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., introduced legislation on Monday that would bar federal office candidates from trading on prediction market contracts tied to their own elections, as first reported by CNBC Business (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/05/don-davis-prediction-market-candidate-trading.html).

Introduced during a pro forma session of the House of Representatives, the "No Betting on Your Own Race Act" aims to turn existing platform-level restrictions into statutory federal law. While prediction market operators have sought to curb insider trading by restricting candidates on their own platforms, Davis's bill would formalize uniform federal penalties across all venues.

Under the proposal, any candidate caught placing trades on event contracts related to their own candidacy would face a fine of $10,000 or three times the net financial gain from the violation, whichever figure is larger. "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.

The legislative push follows a controversy involving Laurie Buckhout, Davis's Republican challenger in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District. In August, Buckhout settled with prediction market platform Kalshi after the company found she had traded on contracts related to her race. Buckhout paid a penalty of just under $2,600 and received a three-year trading suspension, stating at the time that she made a "dumb mistake" and cooperated to resolve the issue.

The proposal faces immediate timing hurdles. Because neither the House nor the Senate is scheduled to reconvene for regular business until after the midterm elections, the bill has little to no chance of passing before voters go to the polls. The Senate passed a resolution in April banning sitting senators and aides from trading on prediction markets—a move endorsed by platforms including Kalshi and Polymarket—but that rule excluded non-incumbent challengers. The House has not yet passed a companion restriction.