Trisha Calvarese, Lauren Boebert’s Democratic opponent, has been paying herself a salary from her campaign
Colorado Sun
Democrat Trisha Calvarese, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, paid herself $13,720.92 out of her campaign account in July, August and September.
Calvarese, who lives in Highlands Ranch and is a former Democratic congressional aide and campaign operative, started taking a salary from her campaign after winning the three-way Democratic primary in the 4th District on June 25.
She paid herself $3,119.08 in July, and then began taking a biweekly salary of $2,650.46 in August. That’s a typical paycheck for someone who earns $63,500 a year. The living wage for a single adult without children in the Denver area is $55,058, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In a written statement, Calvarese said she is “proud to be earning an honest, middle-class wage on this campaign.”
“Congress is full of the ultrawealthy because it’s almost impossible for normal people to run for office,” she said. “It’s part of the reason why Congress is so broken. … Like most Coloradans, I know what it feels like to actually worry about medical bills and the rising cost of gas and groceries.”
Calvarese has parlayed Boebert’s national unpopularity among Democrats into a fundraising juggernaut despite the 4th District’s strong Republican lean.
She reported raising about $2.7 million in July, August and September, spending $1.5 million during that period and starting October with about $1.3 million in cash. Her biggest expense during the quarter, $1.1 million, was advertising.
Boebert, by comparison, raised $532,000 during the quarter, spending $513,000 and ending September with $549,000 in campaign cash. Much of her spending went toward advertising and consulting.
The 4th District, which stretches across the Eastern Plains into Douglas County and Loveland, is considered a Republican stronghold. Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican, won his last two elections in the district by 23 percentage points each. The district’s voters backed Republican Cory Gardner by 23 percentage points in Colorado’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, Republican gubernatorial candidate Walker Stapleton by a 24-point margin in 2018 and Donald Trump by a 30-point margin in 2016.
Calvarese lost her special election bid in the district in June to Republican Greg Lopez by 24 percentage points.
Calvarese isn’t the only Colorado congressional candidate taking a salary this year. Republican Gabe Evans in the 8th Congressional is, too, though it’s smaller. Evans is paying himself $1,650 a month.
Evans’ Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, received a salary from her campaign in 2022, but now that she’s an incumbent she’s prohibited from doing so.
Boebert, as an incumbent, is also prohibited from taking a salary from her campaign. She didn’t take a salary when she first ran for Congress in 2020.
Democrat River Gassen, who is running a longshot campaign in the Republican-stronghold 5th Congressional District, reported paying herself $2,500 on Oct. 15 for work as her campaign’s treasurer.
There’s nothing illegal about the payments, but it’s unusual for candidates to pay themselves or their loved ones a salary because of the criticism it can draw.
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Congressional candidates are allowed to take a salary equivalent of up to $238 a day. The actual limit per candidate depends on how much they earned on average over the preceding five years.
According to Calvarese’s personal financial disclosure, she earned about $134,500 in 2023 for her work as a speechwriter at the National Science Foundation. She left the position in January as she launched her congressional campaign. Calvarese didn’t report any personal debt, though she said her spouse owes between $15,000 and $50,000 for a student loan he took out in 2016 to pay for graduate school.
Members of Congress are paid $174,000 annually, with members of congressional leadership earning even higher amounts.