GOP Senate Candidates Decry Gov’t Spending but Take PPP Loans
“Joe O’Dea and Gino Campana received significant federal coronavirus loans. The two have criticized spending by congressional Democrats.”
Denver, CO – Wealthy CEOs and GOP Senate candidates Joe O’Dea and Gino Campana took millions of dollars in PPP loans during the coronavirus pandemic, but they both accused the federal government of careless spending on the campaign trail. While O’Dea claims to have paid back a part of the taxpayer-funded loan, Campana had all of his loans forgiven despite paying himself $4.3 million and having a net worth of up to $140 million. Both candidates also have self-funded their campaigns with around $500,000 each.
Campana will gladly take advantage of a taxpayer-funded program and line his own pockets but he refuses to support the Child Tax Credit, a tax cut for working families. He continued to showcase his own hypocrisy when he complained about having to pay a dishwasher $25 an hour: “We’re trying to fill jobs that we can’t fill. We have a restaurant, it’s one of our businesses, we’re paying $25 an hour to get a dishwasher to show up. You shouldn’t have that in our country.”
Former right-wing radio host and Senate candidate Deborah Flora has also made similar claims about government spending yet she’s benefitted from unemployment, including from California, in 2020 – and she’s already poured $103,000 of her own money into her campaign.
How can Coloradans trust Campana, O’Dea, and Flora when they denounce government spending while having taken advantage of it? And why did Campana refuse to pay back his more than $700,000 loan when he paid himself $4.3 million?
Read excerpts below from the Colorado Sun:
Republicans running this year to win back one of Colorado’s U.S. Senate seats often extol their fiscal conservative bona fides and criticize government spending. A Colorado Sun analysis shows several received federal loans or unemployment payments to weather the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea owns Denver construction company Concrete Express, which received a PPP loan of nearly $2.9 million in April 2020 to cover payroll for an estimated 240 jobs. The loan was repaid the following month, O’Dea spokesman Zack Roday said.
O’Dea, whose assets are worth between $17.5 million and $77.4 million, reported receiving $663,000 in salary from Concrete Express.
Mile High Station and Ironworks Events Center, another business O’Dea owns shares in, received more than $319,000 in PPP loans over two years. Those loans were forgiven, and helped keep at least 22 employees on the payroll when large events were prohibited, Roday said. O’Dea reported $25,000 in salary from the event center business, of which he serves as president.
In his Senate campaign announcement, O’Dea noted his support for the coronavirus aid programs. “Look, government intervention in the midst of a pandemic was both legitimate and necessary,” O’Dea said. “Nobody begrudges a safety net.”
But, he added, “this attempt to turn the hardships of this past year into a hard left fiscal policy is dead wrong.”
At a Senate debate last week, Fort Collins businessman Gino Campana bemoaned what he said has been reckless spending by congressional Democrats.
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The Sun identified $710,000 in PPP loans granted to five of his companies, all of which were forgiven. He owns apartments, restaurants and other businesses.
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But Campana also received income of $4.3 million in 2020, according to his financial disclosure. About half that came from businesses that received PPP loans. Campana’s net worth is between $44.8 million and $141 million.
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GOP Senate candidate Deborah Flora, a radio talk show host and actress, reported receiving $15,000 in unemployment compensation in 2020. Her financial disclosure said the money “was for being furloughed due to the COVID shutdown.”
She also reported receiving income of $13,000 from Salem Radio and about $52,000 from her business, Lamplight Entertainment, in 2020 and 2021.
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Flora has given about $103,000 to her campaign, $50,000 in loans and about $53,000 in direct payments.
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At last week’s Senate debate, Flora objected to high federal spending.
Read the full story in the Colorado Sun.
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