New York congressman Mike Lawler’s campaign fund splashed more than $150,000 on limousines, private boat charters, five-star hotels, celebrity restaurants, and ritzy resorts, financial filings reveal.
The ‘lavish’ spending, along with his favorable relationship with a lobby group for luxury hire cars, has led his critics to dub him ‘Limousine Lawler’.
Records from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show the second-term Republican’s campaign funds were splashed on a $3,400 dinner at a celebrity-frequented sushi restaurant, $7,355 on private boat charters at an upstate New York resort, a $1,300 ‘meeting’ at the Venetian in Las Vegas, a $700-stay at a Florida beachfront Ritz-Carlton, $560 at a Beverly Hills boutique.
His campaign also spent tens of thousands on events at the Ryder Cup golf tournament and elite country clubs.
A national limousine lobby group honored Hudson Valley-based House member Lawler, 39, with a special fundraiser last year, and luxury car hire company executives have donated over $20,000 to his campaign.
His political fund, Lawler for Congress Inc., spent $10,959.26 on limousine companies in 2024 and 2025.
‘This sounds like a person who tends to treat himself royally off the dime of his donors,’ said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for campaign finance reform organization Public Citizen, adding that failing to spend money wisely would be an ‘abuse’ of donors’ trust.
‘It’s not necessarily a good look,’ added Michael Beckel, an expert on money in politics at bipartisan group Issue One, which advocates for campaign finance reform.
Federal filings show New York Congressman Mike Lawler spent more than $150,000 in campaign funds on luxury perks including limousines, high-end hotels and private boat charters from 2022 to 2025
Lawler’s campaign has spent nearly $50,000 at the Sagamore, a sprawling, colonial-style estate on an island in Lake George, rated the number three hotel in New York
The National Limousine Association hosted a fundraiser for Lawler in Washington, DC last year, encouraging members of the luxury transport industry to support his campaign
‘Being able to have lavish meals, luxury hotels, and trips paid for on someone else’s dime, might raise a lot of eyebrows and a lot of concerns with donors and with constituents.’
Lawler’s spokesman defended the expenditure, saying he is a top fundraiser and that all expenses were legitimate.
A Daily Mail analysis of his campaign spending since 2022 shows the donors also footed the bill for $69,348.24 of luxury hotel stays; $34,511.76 at high-end restaurants – including $14,714.65 on steakhouses alone – and $29,934.75 on events at country clubs and golf tournaments.
In total, the luxury expenses came to $152,109.01 from 2022 to 2025.
Columbia Law School Professor Richard Briffault, an expert on campaign finance legislation, told the Daily Mail that politicians’ campaign funds can make whatever luxury expenditures they want under FEC rules, as long as it is not for purely personal use.
But Briffault added: ‘If I were a donor, I might wonder to what extent my money is being used to support his re-election, or to support him personally, for his comfort.’
Lawler’s campaign spent $11,329.61 at The Breakers, a five star hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, where rooms routinely run at over $1,000 per night.
Across 13 payments since 2023, Lawler’s campaign spent $49,742.97 at the Sagamore, a sprawling, colonial-style estate on an island in Lake George, rated the number three hotel in New York.
His campaign also spent thousands on private boat charters on Lake George.
2023 campaign filings show Lawler’s political fund paid for multiple stays at high-end hotels including the Ritz-Carlton in Biscayne, Florida
The $711.44 spent at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, near Miami, Florida was simply marked as ‘lodging’ in a 2023 receipt obtained by the Daily Mail
His campaign spent $11,329.61 at The Breakers, a five star hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, where rooms routinely run at over $1,000 per night
Records for 2025 show Lawler’s campaign shelled out a $2,085.28 payment to an El Segundo, California firm called VIP Car Service on August 5 last year, described simply as ‘taxi’ in his campaign filings
In total, spent Lawler for Congress $10,959.26 on limousine companies in 2024 and 2025, according to records (stock image)
Critics have given the Hudson Valley Republican the nickname after records showed thousands spent on limousine companies and luxury transport
ADK Excursions received $6,420 from the campaign, in three payments of $2,140 on July 30, 2024, July 1, 2025, and July 30, 2025.
Its boats boast ‘interior lounges’ and an ‘inside parlor’, and accommodate up to 25 people.
Lake George Boat Charter, which advertises its ‘fleet of luxury boats’, also received $935 in two equal payments from the campaign in July 2025.
A source close to Lawler’s campaign said the expenses were for an annual event for donors at the top resort.
Other hotel receipts included $711.44 for ‘lodging’ at the Ritz-Carlton in Key Biscayne, Florida on February 21, 2023; $1,846.70 at the Four Seasons Nashville the following month; $615.65 stay at the Wynn Las Vegas in August 2024, and multiple stays at the Venetian Palazzo – one last November costing $1,307.84, labeled as a ‘meeting’ expense in his FEC filings.
L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills, California, which boasts a AAA Five Diamond Prestige rating and Two Michelin Keys, was paid $566.70 for a stay on May 9 last year.
‘It can be frustrating at times in some of these campaign finance reports,’ Beckel said. ‘You have to take the politician’s word at how this money is being spent.
‘Is it true that it was a donor meeting? If it was two people on a speedboat on a lake, would the meeting have happened had one of them not been a politician running for reelection?’
Lawler’s strategist, Chris Russell, told the Daily Mail that besides one dinner for staff, all expenses were ‘related to either political travel or fundraising’.
‘That some of those events were held at nice restaurants or hotels should surprise absolutely nobody,’ Russell said, adding that Lawler ‘received thousands of small dollar, grassroots donations from supporters across the country’.
‘Any so-called campaign finance expert, or candidate in either party, who tries to claim that you can be a successful fundraiser on the national level by solely serving Chik-fil-A at a Motel 6 are full of s*** and they know it.’
His campaign spent $1,394.25 at celebrity favorite Nobu DC on December 8 and came back for seconds eight days later with another $3,439.15 bill, records show
Donors also footed the bill for nearly $30,000 in events at elite country clubs and golf tournaments including the Ryder Cup in 2025
Lawler’s campaign spent a total $12.8 million since 2022, and raised $87.9 million over the same period, making him one of the top fundraisers in Congress.
Russell also pointed out that Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had similar expenses at luxury hotels, ritzy restaurants and for limousine companies.
Democrats have also caused controversy with their fundraising.
During the October 2025 government shutdown when federal workers were missing paychecks, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was widely criticized for holding a donor retreat with dinner and vineyard tour in Napa Valley, California.
In December 2019, Pete Buttigieg also held a Napa fundraiser at Hall Rutherford wine caves, featuring a 1,500 Swarovski crystal-studded chandelier and bottles of wine costing $350 – though the venue told the LA Times that they did not serve the most expensive wine at the event.
Country clubs with golf courses featured heavily in Lawler’s event expenses.
His campaign spent $10,389.22 at the Apawamis Club in Rye, New York; $3,944.94 at Rockland Country Club; $17,602.66 at the Paramount Country Club in New City, NY; $517.22 at the 2025 Ryder Cup and $6,951.99 to the company that runs it, PGA Tournament Corporation.
As well as elite clubs and hotels, the congressman’s campaign expenses are littered with ritzy restaurants, celebrity-frequented spots and eateries by renowned chefs.
Celeb favorite Nobu DC received $1,394.25 from his campaign on December 8 last year – and came back for seconds eight days later with another $3,439.15 bill.
On March 17, 2025 Lawler for Congress spent $670.56 at famous chef Daniel Boulud’s luxury Palm Beach outpost Cafe Boulud.
His campaign spent $10,883.12 at upscale DC Italian La Colina; $9,868.52 across four occasions at Spilled Milk in Gaithersburg, Maryland; $14,293.15 at Republican haunt the Capital Grille, a ‘staff dinner’ at Airmont, New York’s RSVP Steakhouse and $9,150.79 at other steakhouses.
‘Politicians are able to enjoy a lot of these perks and lavish meals and trips on someone else’s dime, and that’s a luxury that most Americans don’t have,’ said Beckel.
‘But if I’m a donor, I want the politician that I’m supporting with a campaign contribution to be a good steward of the funds that I am giving them.’
Family man Lawler has been known to rail against a ‘bloated federal budget’ and has complained of a failure of the government to ‘live within its means’
Lawler also appears to enjoy riding in style, with thousands shelled out by his campaign in single payments to limousine companies across the country – earning him the nickname ‘Limousine Lawler’ among his opponents.
Spending included a $2,085.28 payment to an El Segundo, California firm called VIP Car Service on August 5 last year, described simply as ‘taxi’ in his campaign filings.
There was also a single $1,390 charge described as ‘taxi to event’, which FEC records say was paid to Houston, Texas firm Emerald Limousines on May 29, 2024.
A source close to Lawler’s campaign said that charge was for replacement travel when his flight to a campaign event was canceled.
The company’s website says its most expensive car is a Lincoln stretch limo, which can be hired for $120 per hour.
The National Limousine Association (NLA) held a ’roundtable’ on April 28 last year in Washington, DC to raise funds for Lawler’s campaign.
A flyer for the event posted on the lobby group’s LinkedIn page said the ‘suggested contribution’ was $500 to attend, with a legal maximum of $3,500 per person.
‘Help us support someone who supports our industry,’ the post said. ‘Join the conversation with Mike Lawler.’
It is unclear how much the event raised, but Lawler’s campaign filings say it received $96,125.18 in total donations that day, and a further $8,867.29 the next day from individuals the Daily Mail identified as limousine company executives.
Katarina Flicker, a spokesperson for Democrat fund the House Majority PAC, was critical of Lawler’s expenses.
‘For a politician who claims to care about affordability and the cost of living crisis, Limousine Lawler doesn’t seem to be losing any sleep over running up tabs at luxury hotels and rolling around in chauffeured cars on his donors’ dime—living a lifestyle his struggling constituents could never afford,’ Flicker told the Daily Mail.
