AP Enterprise: Lawmakers put relatives on political payrolls

Some family members earn enough to make a living. Many come cheap.

Such hiring is legal, but the practice became an issue this month when it was reported that the wife and daughter of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had been paid more than $500,000 since 2001. They worked for DeLay’s political action and campaign committees.

Congressional bosses express no regrets about their family arrangements.

Freshman Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, employs his wife, Kathy, as his campaign manager, the campaign’s sole worker at present. Campaign records show she was paid $21,791 over four months, including a $7,500 bonus last November.

“Kathy has her MBA and had been a full-time teacher for a number of years until last year when she gave up teaching to work full-time on our campaign,” Gohmert said, calling her “the most important part of my campaign team.”

Rep. Ron Lewis hired his wife, Kayi, to be his campaign director and manager about a year ago, and he pays her $50,000 a year. He estimated hiring her saved him more than $40,000.

“My wife raised $250,000 more than I ever raised with all the expensive consultants,” Lewis, R-Ky., told the Associated Press.

AP’s review identified roughly four dozen lawmakers who hired family members for their campaign or political groups, from Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., a former presidential candidate, to a House member from Utah who paid three of his seven children for campaign work.

“Anytime someone does it they have to be ready and willing to explain what the relative does and justify the salary,” said Larry Noble, head of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based campaign finance watchdog group. “It’s a form of self-dealing, and anytime you’re involved with self-dealing, questions are going to be raised.”

A smaller number of lawmakers have relatives on their congressional staffs.

Arlene Willis, the wife of 14-term Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, serves as his chief of staff at a salary of nearly $111,000. It’s allowed because Willis was Lewis’ top aide when he came to Washington in 1979, before they were married. Under House rules, lawmakers cannot hire their spouses to congressional jobs.

Lieberman’s presidential campaign paid his wife, Hadassah, at least $22,000, records show. His son Matthew received about $34,000 and his daughter Rebecca about $36,000.

Sherry Brown, who was the presidential campaign’s chief of staff, said Lieberman’s children were paid on par with other staff members doing fund-raising work. The payments to his wife were for reimbursement of expenses, Brown said.

Lieberman wasn’t the only one in the presidential race with a relative on the campaign payroll. Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary was paid about $81,000 by the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.

Laurie Stupak, wife of Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said she has earned about $36,000 annually during the past two years as the finance director for her husband’s campaign.

She said she was paid slightly more — nearly $3,900 a month — for part of last year because she was both campaign manager and finance director. She also received an election bonus of $2,500 last November.

California GOP Rep. Elton Gallegly’s wife, Janice, has run his campaigns since he was a mayor, continuing in that role since he first ran successfully for Congress in 1986. She did the work for free until last year, when she began taking payment of about $2,600 a month after deciding she’d like more financial independence, Gallegly said in an interview.

“It’s important that she have a little more independence and not feel like she has to depend on me if she needs a couple hundred dollars or if she wants to buy something,” he said.

Other spouses got raises, too.

For instance, Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark’s wife, Deborah, got a monthly increase from $650 to $2,400 as a campaign consultant three years ago — around the time the couple had twins.

“She’s a bargain,” Stark said at the time. The California Democrat said his wife was his campaign manager, office manager and bookkeeper.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, had three college age children working on his campaign last year. They organized events, distributed literature and spoke to state convention delegates. Emily earned $5,425, Jane $9,508 and Laura — still employed by the campaign — received $17,766.

“It surprised me they didn’t make more,” said Joe Hunter, Cannon’s chief of staff.

Mary Hayworth, wife of Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth of Arizona, earns $20,000 a year as the director and only employee of his political action committee.

“The minimal salary she’s paid is far less than if you hired somebody in from outside,” said Hayworth spokesman Larry VanHoose.

Freshman Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., said he employed his retired cousin Ken as a co-campaign manager last year. Ken Costa, an accountant by training who was retired from the state teachers retirement system, made about $45,000 helping out with accounting and other duties.

“He didn’t want to take the money. He was enjoying it,” Rep. Costa said. But it was only fair to pay him, Costa said.

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Associated Press writers Erica Werner, Hilary Roxe, Lolita Baldor, Suzanne Gamboa and Ken Thomas contributed to this report.