If you're a voter in #Louisiana, you might wanna take a look at this list of politicians.
According to a recent report by KSLA, the following Louisiana politicians spent large sums of cash leasing cars:
- Speaker of the House Taylor Barras, whose lease tops $600 a month;
- Sen. Yvonne Doresy-Colomb, of Baton Rouge, who is spending around $500 each month;
- Senate President John Alario Jr., with a lease costing just above $360 per month; and,
- Sen. Greg Tarver of Shreveport, who by far spends the most, shelling out more than $1,100 a month to lease a Mercedes-Benz.
In case you're wondering, Doresy-Colomb & Tarver are both Democrats, the other two are Republicans.
Looking at their latest finance reports, the Barras campaign spent $4,336 on a car lease in 2018. Colomb’s campaign paid $7,906 for a KIA. Alario’s campaign leased a Buick Enclave for just over $7,200. And Tarver’s campaign forked over $13,599.96 for a lease with Mercedes-Benz.
Edward Chervenak, a professor of political science at the University of New Orleans, said, "Obviously, they’re violating the spirit of the law by leasing these vehicles and using their campaign finance accounts to pay for those leases."
Louisiana law clearly states - campaign cash may not be spent for “personal use unrelated to a campaign or the holding of public office."
Tarver has defended his decision to lease a Mercedes-Benz, stating, "When you’re a 100 percent legislator like I am, you have to have a nice car."