George Santos campaign operating at a loss this year, according to election filings
The New York Republican is facing rivals and investigations after numerous controversies
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Your support makes all the difference.The campaign finances of New York representative George Santos are in rough shape this year, according to federal election filings.
The Republican, who’s come under scrutiny for exagerrating or inventing numerous details of his backstory, has a campaign operating a loss of $3,000 this year, Axios reports.
Rep Santos raised about $5,300 during the first three months of this year, according to the filings. He refunded roughly $8,300 during that same period.
That leaves his campaign with $25,000 on hand going into April, much of which was raised before Mr Santos was outed for making dubious claims about his education, business career, and other achievements.
The deficit couldn’t come at a worse time.
Mr Santos is reportedly planning to announce his reelection campaign on Monday, the New York Post reports.
The Long Island Republican “called big donors and sat down with supporters and believes he can raise $500,000 to $750,000 in the second quarter of 2023,” a person close to the House member told the paper.
Kellen Curry, an Afghanistan war veteran and former vice-president at JP Morgan, has announced his intention to run against Mr Santos as a Republican, promising to "restore honesty and integrity back to our congressional representation,” according to a statement from his campaign given to CNN.
"With a passion for public service and a strong desire to restore honorable leadership back to our congressional representation, Kellen is seeking the republican nomination," the statement adds.
Republicans in Congress, as well as residents of Mr Santos’s district, have called on the representative to resign.
In addition to political and fundraising headwinds, Mr Santos faces a raft of investigations.
Officials reportedly including the US Attorney’s Office, FBI, FEC, SEC, New York Attorney General’s Office, and Queens County District Attorney are all either considering or actively conducting investigations into the finances and past actions of Mr Santos.
In January, Mr Santos amended a campaign finance form that previously said he loaned $500,000 of his own money to his campaign. The amendment stated that the loan came from another, undisclosed source outside of Mr Santos’s personal funds.
During his first run for Congress in 2020, Mr Santos listed a salary of $55,000, a figure that jumped into millions of earnings the following year, raising eyebrows.
Mr Santos has explained the influx of wealth as legitimate earnings from his business making capital introductions.
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