The No Betting on Your Own Race Act: What It Would Ban and How It Compares

The No Betting on Your Own Race Act, reported by The Block on October 6, 2026, bars covered persons from buying, selling, acquiring, disposing of or holding a covered election contract, directly or indirectly. A covered election contract is one tied to whether a candidate wins, stays in the race, or finishes with a given vote share, margin or placement.

The reach extends to causing, directing, requesting or inducing another person to take such a position, and to knowingly providing funds for someone else to do so.

Covered persons are federal candidates, their spouses and dependent children, and authorized campaign committees. The scope is limited to a candidate's own election.

That makes it narrower than proposals aimed at officials trading on government actions generally.

The civil penalty is the greater of $10,000 per violation or three times the net financial gain attributable to the violation. If enacted, the rules would apply to conduct from the enactment date onward.

The Federal Election Commission would maintain a free public list of federal candidates, updated at least weekly. Candidates would be notified of the restrictions when they file for federal office.

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) introduced the Stop Lawmakers From Predicting Act (H.R. 9367) on June 18, 2026. It would restrict members of Congress, their spouses and dependents from trading prediction contracts tied to certain government actions, policies or political outcomes.

A House committee advanced Steil's bill as amended on a 5-4 party-line vote, per Roll Call and SBC Americas coverage, and it has not passed either chamber. The two bills target different conflicts. Steil's focuses on officeholders and policy outcomes, while Davis's focuses on candidates and their own elections.

The Block notes that in April, Kalshi penalized three U.S. congressional candidates for wagering on their own races, suspending each for five years. Platform rules have therefore reached the same conduct before any federal statute.

A federal prohibition would add civil liability and a public candidate list that platforms could use for screening.

For compliance teams, the operational question is identification. A weekly FEC candidate list would give operators a defined set of names, though spouse and dependent coverage would still require account-level checks.

This summary relies on The Block's reporting and not on the introduced bill text, which should be reviewed before relying on any specific provision. Nothing here is legal advice.