Prediction market Kalshi has suspended GOP House candidate Laurie Buckhout from its platform for three years, after it determined she wagered on her own race. After launching her candidacy in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District…
Page A9From§Eachthe matinee edition — 31 August 2026
Kalshi bans George Santos as GOP candidate bets on own race
Kalshi, the prediction market, has banned former congressman George Santos for life, citing suspicious trades (2), and has suspended a GOP House candidate in North Carolina for betting on their own race (22). These twin moves highlight an emerging trend: the line between political campaigning and wagering is growing thin, and the regulatory response is catching up—sometimes after the fact. Sal’s column examines how the spectacle of politics as entertainment has turned elections into betting pools, with candidates themselves sometimes acting as gamblers. He questions whether this is a symptom of deeper institutional decay or simply the new normal, where the market logic subsumes the logic of democracy. The stakes, Sal argues, are less about individual malfeasance and more about what happens when the public sees the electoral process as a game with odds—where trust is collateral, and the house always wins. Chip’s defense, meanwhile, is an exercise in equivocation: he insists the rules are clear, then concedes they’re about appearances, then admits it’s really about actual fairness—a rhetorical collapse that mirrors the confusion at the heart of the story.
“A betting market bans an ex-congressman for suspicious trades, then suspends a GOP candidate for betting on his own election. You don't need a crystal ball when candidates treat their races like Vegas odds.”
“We don't know if any laws were broken—candidates are allowed to participate in markets as long as they follow the rules. It’s about transparency. Did I say transparency? Actually, the appearance of fairness is what matters. No, wait, it's the actual fairness. I mean, nobody really bets on themselves expecting to lose, right?”
The receipts
George Santos faces a lifetime ban from Kalshi after failing to cooperate with the prediction market's investigation into his alleged unlawful trades.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.