Walden spending draws media notice

“The media sure tried to make it seem like Greg was doing something wrong,” said Wilcox. “But we are not talking about taxpayer dollars here — this is funding donated by private donors for use in his campaign.”

The reports said Walden spent more than $300,000 on food purchases and meals between January 2011 and June 2014.

In comparison, Oregon’s other House members were shown to have spent a combined total of about $15,000 on meals during the same period.

The tally by Today did not factor in other ways that food could be reported, such as catering expenses or instances when food was folded in with other costs, such as room-rental fees.

Between January 2011 and June 2014, the time period analyzed by Today, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley spent about $150,000 and $100,000 respectively.

Food and beverage costs account for only 8 percent of all campaign spending, according to Andrew Malcolm, spokesperson for Walden.

“The key is that we work hard to keep our overhead low, like any small business would do, while aggressively developing new supporters, thanking volunteers and raising the necessary funds to run effective campaigns,” he said.

Last spring, Wilcox attended a breakfast in Hood River that was hosted by Walden to rally volunteers for his 2014 re-election campaign.

The event drew more than 100 people and Wilcox said similar functions are held in other locations across the Second Congressional District, which encompasses 20 of Oregon’s 36 counties.

“The report talked about Greg expensing 67 meals at The Capital Hill Club in (Washington) D.C. and I was one of those guests,” said Wilcox.

He traveled to the nation’s capital as part of the community outreach team and again as a representative of the local real estate industry. Wilcox is a broker at Columbia River Properties in The Dalles.

“I have never been allowed to buy Greg a meal, even when he joined me for an ‘off-duty’ dinner once at Clock Tower [Ales],” said Wilcox. “He didn’t even want to give the appearance of being ‘bought off’ by allowing me to buy him a $10 hamburger.”

Today reported spreadsheets showed Walden’s meal expenses ranged from Safeway in Hood River to the St. Regis Hotel in Park City, Utah.

The meals included 10 campaign events for between 15 to 20 people each at Ruth’s Chris Steak house in D.C., with a total tab of more than $15,000.

The Sonoma Restaurant just blocks from Walden’s congressional office was another popular stop, with 18 campaign fundraising dinners at that location.

In the KGW report, Paul Gronke, a political science professor at Reed College in Portland, said “a little bit of perspective is important here.”

“Part of politics is politics. It is hand shaking, it is back slapping, it’s getting together over dinner,” he said. Gronke then explained to a KGW reporter that campaign contributions can’t be used for personal expenses. But lawmakers have wide discretion about how the money is spent, which can include fancy meals.

He said the position in Republican leadership now held by Walden, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, likely requires more expenditures than less prominent House and Senate members.

Malcolm said the $444 spent at Hood River Safeway during the past three and one-half years was to provide volunteers with food and beverages, or furnish refreshments at campaign events.

“We wrap a lot of campaign events around meals, so it’s not surprising that we would have food and beverage expenses associated with those,” he said. “For example, when we have a dinner for campaign supporters in The Dalles, we buy food from Spooky’s or another local restaurant. It’s no different than when the Kiwanis Club buys food for their annual steak feed or the Wasco County Democrats buy a meal for their events.”

The Walden for Congress committee recently filed a financial report with the Federal Election Commission showing that $2,290,187 had been raised in donations and a total of $1,573,273 spent on his campaign.