The Republican candidate in a hotly contested U.S. House race in North Carolina has been suspended by the online prediction market Kalshi for betting on her own campaign.
Laurie Buckhout will pay a $2,500 fine in addition to serving a three-year suspension in settling the case, Kalshi announced Monday morning. The company said she cooperated with its inquiry and admitted placing bets of less than $1,000 on her campaign.
“I bet on myself. Literally,” Buckhout said in a statement Monday morning. “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,” she said.
Buckhout is challenging U.S. Rep. Don Davis, a moderate Democrat serving his second term, in a House district in northeastern North Carolina that GOP strategists are hoping to flip. North Carolina lawmakers redrew it last year to improve the chances of a Republican candidate.
Davis called Buckhout's activity on Kalshi a breach of trust.
"Eastern North Carolinians are struggling with the everyday costs of healthcare, gas, groceries, and housing, while my opponent treats a congressional election as an opportunity to cash in," Davis said in a post on X.
Buckhout, a retired Army colonel who lost to Davis in 2024, recently worked in the Trump administration as assistant secretary of war for cyber policy.
Kalshi also said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after concluding he likely engaged in insider trading when he profited by betting against his attendance at the State of the Union address.
Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said it was the first permanent ban in the company's history.