Don Davis proposes bill to fine candidates $10K for trading on their own elections

US Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) introduced the “No Betting on Your Own Race Act” on October 5, 2026, targeting a gap in existing ethics rules that has grown more visible as political prediction markets have moved from novelty to mainstream. The bill would prohibit federal candidates and their immediate family members from trading on any prediction market tied to their own elections. Violations would carry a civil penalty of $10,000 per infraction, or three times the net financial gain from the trade, whichever turns out to be larger. What sparked the legislation Davis did not introduce this bill in a vacuum. The direct trigger was a case involving his own Republican opponent, Laurie Buckhout, who settled with prediction market platform Kalshi in August 2026 after trading contracts linked to her own candidacy. The Kalshi settlement cost Buckhout approximately $2,600 and came with a three-year suspension from the platform. That penalty, by most standards, is not exactly a deterrent sized to match the seriousness of the offense. The case also illustrated a basic structural problem: the rules that currently exist are voluntary. Kalshi and other prediction market platforms have their own ban...