WASHINGTON — As lawmakers wrangle over the nation’s debt, 18 members of the House and Senate started this year with campaign committees that each reported at least $100,000 in unpaid bills.
All told, the 15 Republicans and three Democrats owed consultants, advertising firms and other vendors a total of nearly $6 million, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission reports through Dec. 31 by OpenSecrets for CQ Roll Call. The debts do not include money that candidates loaned to their own campaigns, which totaled an additional $17.3 million, some of it stretching back to 2010.
“From a legal, anti-corruption perspective, it’s very important that campaigns pay off their debts,” said Adav Noti, senior vice president and legal director at the Campaign Legal Center, a political money watchdog group. “If they don’t, then they have gotten something for free, and that can be a way to buy influence over officeholders.”
