Massachusetts donors have been paying Kyrsten Sinema’s Boston Marathon expenses: report

15 May 2023

One of 2024's most closely watched U.S. Senate races will be the one in Arizona. Although Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) has not made a formal announcement, the Wall Street Journal has reported that she is "preparing" to run as an independent.

The former Democrat turned independent is known for being an avid runner and has often tweeted photos of her participating in marathons in different parts of the United States — including the Boston Marathon. But according to The Daily Beast's Sam Brodey, Massachusetts donors have been covering significant chunks of Sinema's marathon expenses.

Sinema, Brodey reports in an article published on May 14, "appears to have turned" her visits to Boston "into a fundraising junket" by "allowing her campaign to cover the thousands of dollars in expenses she would have incurred herself by traveling to the race."

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, according to Brodey, show that the Arizona senator "collected over $16,000 in campaign contributions from a handful of Massachusetts-based donors in April 2022." And her Getting Stuff Done PAC, Brodey reports, spent over $1500 on "meeting meals" and "event supplies" at "Boston-Area businesses the week of the race."

Brendan Fischer, the deputy executive director of watchdog group Documented, told the Daily Beast, "Tacking some personal activities onto a fundraising trip is generally going to be fine, but this appears to be the inverse: tacking fundraisers on to personal trips to justify the use of campaign funds to cover the costs."

The Daily Beast's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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