Candidate

Disclosures come after firm tightened rules on insider trading, including candidates betting on own campaignsBefore he announced his Senate candidacy, a political hopeful in Virginia did something not so unusual in this day and age: he logged on to a prediction market exchange and wagered money that he would run. Then he ran. Then he bet on that too.The candidate and trader was Mark Moran, a former FBoy Island contestant who went viral recently for his campaign launch video. Investigators with Kalshi, the federally regulated prediction market exchange, found he placed two trades on their platform, the first in a market asking which individuals would seek public office in 2026, the second after he formally entered the race. Continue reading...

• Venezuela's government issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Carlos Mendoza, accusing him of inciting foreign intervention, shortly after he met with US State Department officials in neighboring Colombia. • US officials condemned the warrant as politically motivated persecution, calling for Mendoza's immediate release and warning of further diplomatic consequences if he is detained. • The incident escalates tensions between Washington and Caracas, with human rights organizations documenting increased arrests of political opponents and independent journalists under President Maduro's administration.

Police bring criminal case over alleged manipulation of party database in Croydon East constituencyFour Labour activists have been charged over allegations that a party database was manipulated to increase a candidate’s chance of selection.The four include Joel Bodmer, 40, who ran as a potential candidate for the Croydon East constituency in south London but later withdrew. He is charged with perverting the course of justice for allegedly altering phone records. Continue reading...

Labour calls on Nigel Farage to sack candidates and says his party’s checks ‘clearly not fit for purpose’Reform UK’s checks on candidates are “clearly not fit for purpose”, Labour has said after two more candidates in May’s local elections were accused of making offensive or potentially racist social media posts.Meanwhile, it emerged that Restore Britain, the party set up by the MP Rupert Lowe after he left Reform, appeared to have accepted a donation from someone who has called publicly on social media for “another Hitler” to come to power. Continue reading...

Some fear a fragmented field of hopefuls from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents could leave city ungovernablePaul Tilsley was 23 when he was first elected for the Liberal party in Birmingham’s 1968 council elections. At the time, the UK had an unpopular Labour government facing an economic crisis, tensions around immigration and US pressure to back military action abroad.Such a backdrop may seem familiar, but this May, the all-out local elections in Birmingham could not be more different. Tilsley, now a Lib Dem, faces a fragmented field with candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents all competing for his seat and no party expected to win an overall majority at the council. Continue reading...

Rick Jackson is flooding Georgia’s media markets with ads attacking immigrants, transgender people and DEIA campaign ad from Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson pledging that unauthorized immigrants committing violent crimes will end up “deported or departed” has inundated streaming services and social media in Georgia for weeks.“I don’t care if you’re a Muslim or a Mongolian, you don’t have the right to force your culture on our country,” the Jackson ad begins. “Too often, criminal illegals commit sick, violent crimes, victimize our children and get away with murder. So here’s my guarantee to them: do that when I’m governor, and you’ll end up deported or departed. Any questions?” Continue reading...

Presidential elections in Djibouti and Benin at the weekend highlighted how a costly electoral system is reshaping democracyAlexis Mohamed would have loved to stand against his former boss. A longtime adviser to Djibouti’s president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, Mohamed resigned last September, citing democratic regression in the country.But at the election at the weekend, Mohamed was not on the ballot. Now outside the country, he says he cannot return home to file nomination papers or campaign freely without credible security guarantees. Even if he were allowed to compete, nomination costs would still loom as a steep barrier in a political environment many critics describe as ceremonial, with Guelleh the habitual winner. Continue reading...