Texas GOP congressional candidate Zeke Enriquez bet on the outcome of his own election on Kalshi, the prediction market said in a press release Wednesday, marking the latest sign of the industry’s newfound prevalence in the state’s politics.
Enriquez, who finished 11th in the Republican primary for Texas’ 21st Congressional District with 1.4% of the vote, traded less than $100 worth of contracts related to his own candidacy, according to Kalshi regulatory documents. Kalshi fined Enriquez $784 and suspended him from the platform for five years after a “full investigation” with which Enriquez was “fully cooperative,” the company said.
Two other political candidates, in Minnesota and Virginia, were also caught trading on their own elections and suspended from the platform, Kalshi said.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have faced growing scrutiny in recent months, with lawmakers and others raising concerns about insider trading and fears that the exploding industry could undermine the integrity of U.S. elections with the 2026 midterms underway. The suspensions and fines mark one of the most robust enforcement actions taken yet by a prediction market platform against political candidates, according to CNN.
A Kalshi spokesperson said the platform referred Enriquez’s case to the CFTC. It did not refer his case to any state agencies, according to the spokesperson, who said it wasn’t required.
Prediction markets have expanded in Texas through a federal loophole, even as traditional sports betting and casinos remain outlawed in the state. Ahead of next year’s legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick instructed Texas state senators to “study the sudden inundation of prediction market gambling” and “make recommendations to ensure the integrity of Texas elections and Texas sports.”
Prediction sites allow users to bet on almost any subject, from sports and elections to entertainment and the economy. The platforms are regulated by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While the Biden administration sought to prohibit election-related prediction markets, the agency under the Trump administration withdrew that proposal earlier this year.
Kalshi has sought to convince regulators and lawmakers that it is a responsible operator, publicizing the three cases Wednesday and last month announcing it would preemptively block political candidates from trading on their elections, along with barring athletes and coaches from betting on their own sports outcomes.
“Cases like these demonstrate Kalshi’s commitment to policing all types of unfair or improper trading on our platform,” Bobby DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, said in the statement announcing the suspensions Wednesday. “Regardless of the size of a trade, political candidates who can influence a market based on whether they stay in or out of a race violate our rules. No matter how small the size of the trade, any trade that is found to have violated our exchange rules will be punished.”
— Ayden Runnels contributed to this report.
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