Fact check: Did McCarty accept over $300,000 in state money for 10-minute Sacramento commute?
The first negative mailer of this year’s Sacramento mayoral race is now in voters’ mailboxes.
Its target? Kevin McCarty.
The mailer contains several claims about the Sacramento area California assemblyman.
Claim on the front side of the mailer:
“As an Assemblyman from Sacramento, Kevin McCarty lives 10 minutes from the state capitol, yet he’s taken $311,340 in taxpayer-funded living expenses meant for out-of-town legislators”
Analysis:
It’s true that McCarty has been collecting those state checks, called a “per diem” allowance, but campaign manager Andrew Acosta said that he has donated the majority of it to charitable causes.
Acosta also said the $311,340 figure does not take into account that taxes were paid on McCarty’s allowances.
McCarty, who has been in the Assembly since 2014, has donated some of money toward a program that helps parents of children in the Robla School District save for college. In more recent years, McCarty has been donating to a scholarship fund in memory of his mother, supporting single mothers going back to school, Acosta said.
Acosta provided The Sacramento Bee with copies of checks McCarty wrote between 2020 and 2023 to Lincoln Law, Sacramento State, American River College, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, the Sierra Health Foundation and the ARC Foundation. These donations totaled $76,225. Acosta said that copies of checks written prior to 2020 were not immediately available in McCarty’s bank record.
Former state senator Richard Pan, who’s also running for mayor, has also been criticized for collecting the payments, until he stopped in 2014.
Claim on the back side:
“Assemblyman Kevin McCarty received more than $800,000 in campaign donations from corporate special interests. He used his personal ‘slush fund’ to reward himself with: $27,600 for the Golden State Warriors, $8,801 for a luxury vacation to Ireland, and $3,449 for limousine transportation.”
Analysis:
McCarty’s campaign made those purchases, but his campaign contends that they were not made for personal gain.
The Warriors expense was a fundraising event, and the Ireland trip was a Democratic assembly delegation trip, Acosta said.
Who’s behind the ad:
The mailer is funded by the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses PAC. A major contributor of that PAC is the McDonald’s California Operators PAC, according to state campaign disclosure filings.
As an assemblyman in recent years, McCarty voted for controversial bills aimed to improve working conditions and establish a minimum wage at fast food restaurants.
The PAC has so far spent over $107,000 on the mailers opposing McCarty.
McCarty’s opponents for mayor include Flojaune Cofer, Richard Pan and Steve Hansen. The primary will be held March 5. The top two will advance to the general election on Nov. 5. To learn more about the city races, visit The Bee’s landing page.
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
