Campaign Manager Made $250 an Hour

Editor’s note: We published this story earlier in the week, but here it is again in case you missed it.

A tea party organizer from Newtown received $250 an hour from a candidate for state attorney general in 2014, reports the News-Times.

Republican Kie Westby, a recipient of taxpayer funds from Connecticut’s clean elections program, paid Ronald Wilcox $76,089 to run his unsuccessful campaign.

Despite limited experience managing a statewide campaign, the sum rivals the salaries of seasoned political pros who worked on higher-profile races, including the campaign manager for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who was paid $76,000 over 10 months.

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Wilcox had been on track to make a lot more, but agreed to return $285,500 to Westby once word got out about the taxpayer-funded windfall.

It is unusual for a campaign manager to be an hourly employee, given the marathon days and unpredictable nature of the job.

After receiving $806,000 in taxpayer grants, Westby returned $225,366 to the public coffers. The State Elections Enforcement Commission is auditing Westby’s campaign, which is standard for anyone seeking statewide office with public funds.

To read the full News-Times story, click here.