Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) shelled out $24,000 in campaign funds to her daughter for work on the lawmaker’s re-election campaign in the first quarter of this year, according to records from the Federal Election Commission.
The records indicate that Karen Waters was paid by her mother’s campaign committee, “Citizens for Waters,” in installments of $5,000 and $3,000 for “slate mailer management” fees.
Karen Waters was paid a total of $8,000 on Jan. 5, Jan. 31 and March 21.
In all, the younger Waters has received more than $1.2 million since 2003 for campaign services, according to Fox News.
During fiscal year 2021, Waters’ campaign paid her daughter $81,650 in 12 installments for “slate mailer management” fees and “GOTV” — or “Get Out the Vote” services.
In the last election cycle, Maxine Waters paid Karen around $240,000 for work under the same labels.
It is legal for lawmakers to employ family members to work on campaigns. However, Federal Election Commission regulations prohibit paying candidate relatives a salary unless they are “providing bona fide services to the campaign” and the salary represents “fair market value of the services provided.”
Despite bipartisan practice, Waters has a history of shelling out more for her daughter than her colleagues have done for their relatives.
In 2020, the nonprofit data tracking organization OpenSecrets found Waters paid her daughter more than $114,000 for her campaign services, 56% more than then-Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who paid the next-highest amount ($73,212) to his son and daughter-in-law.
Waters defended the payments to her daughter in 2004, saying her politics and her family’s business were separate.
“They do their business and I do mine,” Waters said at the time, according to the Washington Post. “We are not bad people.”
Waters faces re-election in 2022 and is expected to easily win her 17th House term.