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It's truly a bipartisan fine handed down by the prediction market Kalshi.
A Republican, a Democrat and an Independent have each been fined by Kalshi for allegedly betting on their own elections.
The company has lodged the accusations against Mark Moran, who is running as an independent in Virginia's U.S. Senate race; Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran in a Texas Republican primary for a U.S. House seat; and Matt Klein, a Democratic state senator running for a U.S. House seat in Minnesota.
From the local CBS affilate in Salisbury, Maryland:
Klein and Enriquez both placed bets less than $100 related to their “own candidacy,” Kalshi said. Moran said on social media that he “traded $100 on myself.”
Moran refused to reach an agreement with Kalshi and was fined the most at more than $6,200, while Klein and Enriquez did reach agreements and face penalties of over $530 and $780, respectively, the company said. All were suspended from Kalshi for five years. The agreements are with the company, and not with a government oversight or law enforcement agency.
Moran took to social media on Wednesday to say that he placed the bets because he wanted to draw attention to the issue.
“We live in a Country destroyed by vice, which Kalshi directly contribute to,” Moran wrote on X, saying the goal of the trade was to "highlight how this company is destroying young men.”
Likewise, Klein admitted to placing a bet on his own election.
$50 wager he placed in October was the first time he had used a predictions market, he said in a statement on X, and he was “curious about how it worked.”
“This was a mistake and I apologize,” he wrote, saying that the experience made it clear that the markets need more regulation.
Enriquez lost his election bid, only receiving two percent of the vote. He could not be reached for comment.
