James Osyf, who owns a $1.7 million house in DC, spent campaign cash on DC restaurants, Virginia Beach hotels, and lots of gas
Democrat James Osyf says he lives in Virginia Beach, where he’s challenging incumbent Republican congresswoman Jen Kiggans. His campaign spending habits, however, suggest he’s actually running the campaign from 200 miles away in Washington, D.C.
Osyf, a Lockheed Martin executive who owns a $1.7 million D.C. home, spent a combined $714 dollars at trendy D.C. shops Each Peach Market—a specialty cheese store in the “culturally vibrant foodie paradise” of Mount Pleasant known for $65 crudité platters—and MacArthur Beverages, D.C.’s “leading retailer and importer of fine wines,” his latest campaign finance disclosure shows.
Osyf also spent more than $1,600 on three separate Virginia Beach hotels, suggesting he had no place to stay when visiting the area he claims to reside in. He spent no money on restaurants or caterers in that area, according to his disclosure.
The expenses may explain why Osyf racked up more than $1,800 in mileage reimbursements. The Federal Election Commission allows candidates to pay themselves for campaign-related driving expenses using the IRS reimbursement rate of 70 cents a mile. That means Osyf drove roughly 2,800 miles for his campaign from the start of July to the end of September. It’s enough distance to cover about seven round trips between D.C. and Virginia Beach.
Osyf’s carpetbagger status could emerge as a thorn in his campaign against Kiggans.
A Navy veteran with a master’s degree from Harvard University and law degree from Georgetown University, Osyf has worked for Lockheed Martin for 10 years, starting as a strategic planner in the defense giant’s Arlington, Va., office before rising to the role of policy and program operations director in the company’s Bethesda, Md., office, according to his LinkedIn, which lists his location as “Virginia Beach, Virginia.”
Shortly after launching his campaign in July, meanwhile, Osyf told the Virginian-Pilot he lives in Virginia Beach and is running “to help Virginia’s veterans and working class families who are being left behind.”
But property records first reported by the New York Post show he owns a renovated $1.7 million D.C. brownstone located roughly two miles from the White House. The Osyf campaign’s statement of organization also lists a D.C. mailing address.
Osyf will have to be cognizant of his travel expenses should he wish to close the financial gap between his campaign and Kiggans’s. Osyf ended September with $247,000 on hand compared with Kiggans’s $1.9 million. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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