See how George Santos spent more than $103,000 on restaurants, hotels and flights
Congressman-elect George Santos while campaigning in Glen Cove on Nov. 5. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer
Cippolini's in Manhasset. Il Mulino's in Atlantic City. Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Miami Beach.
Bergdorf Goodman. The W South Beach. Treasure Island. Harrah's Resort. Soho Grand. 114 flights.
Newsday reviewed the campaign filings of Rep.-elect George Santos, using data his campaign filed with the Federal Elections Commission.
In a two-year campaign, his spending outpaced that of his Democratic opponent and GOP House rivals, according to FEC data. Experts described the Santos' campaign spending as lavish and unusual for a nonincumbent running to represent a House district almost entirely in Nassau County.
Santos spent more than $103,000 on flights, hotels, and restaurants for meetings with donors and campaign staff, much of it out of state, the data show.
He stayed at hotels or resorts in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami Beach, traveled to Wichita, Kansas, and Las Vegas, dined at expensive restaurants, and stayed at luxury hotels including in New York City, too. On Long Island, he stayed at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor and the Garden City Hotel.
He visited one restaurant, Il Bacco in Little Neck, Queens, a total of 25 times.
The data does not indicate how many people dined at the various restaurants paid for by the Santos campaign. It does not say how many individuals flew with Santos. Expenses also do not say what Santos' per night rate was at the hotels, how many days the campaigned stayed there, or how many staffers stayed at the hotels.
In reviewing what Santos and other House campaigns spent on meals and restaurants, Newsday excluded specific expenses for fundraisers and events.
Kenneth Miller, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said Santos' spending “is pretty lavish … for a challenger who normally should be husbanding his resources very carefully for the purposes of running for office."
“Hotel stays and restaurant bills, those can be explainable in terms of if you’re networking with important people in the party, and potential fundraisers and that sort of thing,” Miller said. But, “if you’re going to resort locations and you're going to high-end restaurants repeatedly, that sort of looks less like political activity and more like personal activity.”
Search the data to see what the Santos campaign spent on hotels and meals.
