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Boebert travel expenses7/13/2023 ![]() ![]() The FEC doesn't cap mileage reimbursements but does recommend candidates use the IRS reimbursement rate. Mileage reimbursements for candidates are typically calculated using the IRS standard mileage rate, which was 57.5 cents per mile in 2020 and 56 cents per mile in 2021. "Voters do have a right to know how campaigns are spending their money and whether that spending is being used as candidates claim it is," said Brendan Quinn, senior communications manager for campaign finance and ethics at Campaign Legal Center. The FEC requires candidates to maintain a log of expenses so the commission can determine on a case-by-case basis what portion was for personal use rather than for campaign-related activity or official elected duties. ![]() ![]() "There are plausible explanations for a high mileage reimbursement rate, but 46,000 is extremely high." Even if you've included driving out of state for things, that's a lot," said Brett Kappel, a campaign finance lawyer and FEC expert at Washington, D.C., firm Harmon Curran. "Forty-six thousand miles is an awfully high number. That's the same as driving the width of the United States more than 16 times. Since launching his first campaign for the Second District in January 2020, Kistner has reimbursed himself a total of more than $26,000 from his campaign accounts for mileage, which equates to roughly 46,000 miles, or around 84 miles per day through early July of this year. Aaron Schock, who resigned amid criticism over the matter in 2015. Other candidates have faced scrutiny in the past for abnormal mileage reimbursements, including former Republican Illinois U.S. It's legal for federal candidates to reimburse themselves for campaign miles driven in their personal vehicles, but using campaign funds for personal use is prohibited. "We thoroughly log and review all expenses, and in accordance with FEC guidance, the campaign has reimbursed Tyler for the cost of this campaign travel." "Tyler has put thousands of miles on his personal vehicle traveling to every corner of the Second District meeting with voters about their concerns, and the importance of having a true servant leader representing them in Congress," said Tyler Dunn, a spokesman for the Kistner for Congress campaign, in response to mileage questions. Kistner posted about a half dozen public campaign events on his Facebook page between April and the beginning of July, including his campaign launch. Kistner's campaign did not provide his travel logs to the Star Tribune, but is defending the reimbursements, arguing the Marine Corps veteran from Prior Lake has been traveling across the district. He questioned whether Kistner is using his campaign funds for personal benefit and said Kistner's "mileage reimbursement certainly appears excessive." "That is a whole lot of miles for any campaign, especially for a campaign in a fairly small suburban district," Craig Holman, a Capitol Hill lobbyist who focuses on ethics for the watchdog group Public Citizen, said in an e-mail. Minnesota's Second District covers 3,000 square miles of the southern Twin Cities metro and some rural communities, spanning roughly 120 miles across from its farthest edges. He also reimbursed himself $2,963 for mileage in February, more than two months before he launched his second run against DFL U.S. Kistner's reimbursement equates to driving nearly 12,400 miles between launching his second campaign for the district on April 20 and early July, or around 160 miles each day. Republican Second Congressional District candidate Tyler Kistner reimbursed himself nearly $7,000 for mileage in his latest campaign finance report, an unusually high number for his mostly suburban district that campaign finance watchdogs say raises questions about his spending and the campaign's transparency. ![]()
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