After six years of collecting a monthly check from Raul Labrador's campaign machine, his wife, Becca Labrador, is no longer being paid by her husband's campaign.
Becca Labrador had been paid to oversee the campaign's books since 2011. As of the first of the year, Mrs. Labrador stopped receiving a monthly salary of $2,022.
Raul Labrador's campaign manager in his run for governor said Wednesday Mrs. Labrador is no longer collecting a salary from her husband's campaign. The Spokesman Review says Raul has long defended his wife serving as a paid employee of his campaign. In Idaho, paying a spouse or relative with campaign funds isn't illegal.
A 2013 analysis by USA Today found just 32 members of Congress had close relatives on the payroll and collecting from their campaign funds. A decade ago, the House of Representatives advanced a bill prohibiting spouses from getting campaign money, but it died in the Senate.
A political scientist at the College of Idaho thinks Raul Labrador may be cleaning house ahead of next year's election. With a crowded field of Republicans running for governor, it could be one of the most serious challenges Labrador has faced. By taking his wife off the payroll, Labrador may be getting ahead of an issue that could dog him once the melee amongst the gubernatorial candidates gets underway.
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