The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Salt Lake City Weekly.

A $3,000 stay at a French chateau; a wedding registry website; a $900 visit to a steakhouse, TopGolf, a bowling alley, hunting and pickleball clubs, carwashes and phone repair services.

These are a few of the ways Utah lawmakers spent $5 million in campaign funds last year, according to a review of lawmakers' 2024 campaign finance reports by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project. State law requires lawmakers to file detailed reports about their campaign funds, including all contributions and expenditures as well as the total amount in their account.

By the end of 2024, lawmakers had a cumulative $2.8 million in their accounts—almost $500,000 less than the start of the year. The three biggest spenders were: Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George; Sen. Karen Kwan, D-West Valley City; and Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden. All were up for election in 2024. They spent $195,800, $190,500 and $187,000, respectively. The median amount of spending among all state lawmakers was far lower, however, at $34,900.

Lawmakers also received $5.2 million in cash contributions last year. A dozen lawmakers' contributions were six-figure sums. Kwan, a Democrat, was the only legislator to raise more than $200,000. The median for total contributions was $37,000.

Nine lawmakers ended the year with six figures in their accounts; all were Republicans. Ann Millner, R-Ogden, had the largest year end balance at $163,000, followed by Kirk Cullimore, R-Cottonwood Heights, at $142,000 and Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, at $118,700.

Only two lawmakers—Rep. Jake Fitisemanu, D-West Valley, and Sen. Ron Winterton, R-Roosevelt—reported ending the year in the red, with campaign balances of -$10,700 and -$47,700, respectively. Fitisemanu ran his first legislative campaign last year, spending $107,000 after serving on the West Valley City Council. Winterton was not up for reelection, but spent $135,600.

The Lt. Governor's Office, which oversees elections, said there is no deadline to rectify a negative balance, but reporting contributions late may be subject to a fine. Fitisemanu said the negative balance on his report was due to four donations totaling $16,050 that were erroneously omitted.

"While the ledger was maintained by a third-party contracted for financial management, the accountability for the unintentional accounting discrepancy is ultimately mine; the appropriate reporting and mitigating processes have already been initiated," he said.

Fuzzy Figures
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, made headlines in December after a complaint alleged he violated reporting requirements by listing his credit card company—rather than the actual recipient of spent funds—for thousands of dollars in payments.

Adams denied any wrongdoing and the Lt. Governor's Office later admitted it had given Adams contradictory guidance and would notify all officeholders of updated guidance. The office did not respond to a question about whether it had sent the updated guidance.

A review of campaign finance disclosures, however, shows Adams was far from the only lawmaker to report that way. Dozens of lawmakers listed credit cards, banks or apps like Venmo as the recipient. Such payments added up to nearly $42,000 in expenses. Some legislators included notes on these self reimbursements that identified the final recipient but the majority did not.

Sandall, for instance, disclosed about $17,000 in travel expenses where the recipient is listed as Amex.

When asked to clarify the purpose and destination of the trips, he said, "These amounts were disclosed this way under previous guidelines. New directives indicate that we will include both Amex and the final payment recipients listed."

Rep. Norman Thurston, R-Provo, likewise, reimbursed himself for exactly $4,700 in travel expenses that he said were mostly for lodging in Salt Lake City during the legislative session.

"Reporting was complicated by the way legislators are reimbursed for our housing expenses," he said, adding a personal contribution of $3,766 was tied to him being "reimbursed personally for part of those expenses."

Donations to political parties and campaigns also made up a large portion of spending. However, the final recipient of those funds wasn't always clear. Spending on platforms like ActBlue and WinRed totaled more than $16,000.

Broad, limited categories on the report can also make it difficult to get a full picture of a candidates' spending. A meal could be listed under campaign expenses, constituent services, travel expenses or other. For example, a $1,000 payment to USA Climbing from Sen. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove, was marked as "other." A $140 payment to Team USA was also listed under "other," but Hawkins included a brief description: "Team USA Gear for Olympic Bid Trip." An $85 charge at Sephora, meanwhile, was marked as an office expense. Hawkins did not respond to a request to clarify the payments.

Likewise, Sen. Keith Grover, R-Provo, had a nearly $3,000 charge to "Sportsmans" that was categorized as a campaign expense. When asked if he could specify what the funds were used for, Grover only said the charge was for "campaign and fundraising expenses" and did not elaborate.

Frequent Flyers
Travel expenses cost lawmakers more than $500,000 last year. Travel was the fifth highest expense behind consulting firms, advertising, miscellaneous campaign expenses and political donations.

Cullimore, for example, spent $38,000 on travel, including a trade mission to Asia and a trip with state education and industry leaders to Galway, Ireland, to see how the city's medtech model could be replicated in Utah. He said trips out of the state "were directly tied to economic and workforce development efforts that have had a meaningful impact on our state."

"Importantly, these expenses were not paid for with taxpayer funds but rather from my campaign account," Cullimore said over email. "Many countries value government representation in business discussions, and as policymakers, we also engage with foreign government officials to learn from their approaches to key challenges such as economic development, homelessness, and environmental policy."

Likewise, travel made up a majority of Adams' spending, which totaled nearly $73,000 last year. Two large charges—nearly $3,000 at a French chateau and $1,400 at a luxury resort in Mongolia—were for accommodations during a trip to France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy and a Mongolia trade mission.

Aundrea Peterson, Senate deputy chief of staff, said the trip organizer arranged the accommodations and that Adams chose not to use state funds in both cases.

"Strategic trade missions and visits open doors for Utah businesses to thrive in key industries such as aerospace, life sciences, healthcare and more," Peterson said. "The statute allows officeholders to use their campaign account to fulfill a duty or activity of an officeholder. President Adams made the decision to use his campaign account, rather than state funds, to help support these trade missions."

Keeping It in the Family
The UIJP identified a number of payments that went to legislators' children, spouses or other family members. The payments totaled more than $21,000, with lawmakers often listing the purpose of the money as a campaign expense. The UIJP reached out to lawmakers to clarify how the funds were spent, but most did not respond.

Rep. Verona Mauga, D-Taylorsville, paid family members just over $6,000 and spent $4,400 at a bakery she owns. She said those payments reflected the nontraditional campaign she ran, which focused on community involvement and her Polynesian roots. She said her family members took on a number of campaign staff roles, ranging from shopping for food and supplies to organizing entertainment, cooking and making costumes.

"I understand why there might be questions about payments to my business and family members, and I welcome them. In my culture, service is ever-revolving," she said. "These weren't just campaign events; they were cultural gatherings where my community showed up for each other in ways that go beyond politics."

Mauga added that she did not profit off the food from her business used at campaign events. The payments, she said, covered the cost of the food and did not include her family's time preparing it. Fitisemanu said two payments to his mother totaling $1,500 reimbursed her for fronting the bill for catering at his campaign kickoff event.

Kera Birkeland, a Morgan Republican who recently resigned from the Utah House, made several payments to her husband and children in 2024, totalling nearly $3,000. She did not respond to an email asking about the expenses. Other payments to family were much smaller.

Rep. Nelson Abbott, R-Orem, for example, made two $50 payments to his adult daughter. He said the payments were for her time driving him to the Capitol from Orem after an ankle surgery prevented him from driving.

"My daughter, who is an adult and lives on her own, also drives for Uber. Rather than hiring an Uber, I hired her," he said in an email. "It worked out because she gave me a discount on what Uber would charge and she actually made more money because Uber did not take a cut."

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, made a handful of payments to his wife that he said were reimbursements for babysitters she'd paid in cash and parking. He also paid his nephew $170 to put up campaign signs.

Sen. Calvin Musselman, R-West Haven, said he reimbursed his daughter-in-law, Donna Musselman, $100 for campaign mailers.