Wire
Campaign staff could be barred from election bets
Representative Ritchie Torres’s proposal would make it illegal for people tied to federal campaigns to trade election prediction contracts if they hold confidential campaign data such as internal polling or strategy.
People working for U.S. political campaigns could be barred from betting on election outcomes if they have access to confidential campaign information under a House proposal called the Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act.
Introduced by Representative Ritchie Torres of New York with Representative Seth Moulton as a cosponsor, the measure targets trading in “political event contracts,” financial bets that pay out based on events such as election results, party nominations, or which party controls Congress.
When campaign knowledge becomes a market advantage
The bill would make it illegal for a campaign‑affiliated individual to trade those contracts while knowingly holding material nonpublic information from a campaign. The definition stretches beyond candidates and staff to include consultants, pollsters, strategists, fundraisers, vendors, volunteers with access to confidential information, and certain family members acting on their behalf.
It would also require prediction‑market platforms that offer political event contracts to maintain safeguards aimed at preventing insider trading and market manipulation tied to campaign information.