| New reporting from the Detroit Metro Times exposed how Tom Barrett paid himself nearly $22,000 in campaign cash for mileage: meaning per the standard IRS mileage, Barrett claims to have driven “about 32,350 miles.”
Barrett’s payments to himself over a span of just over two years “far exceed the mileage payments reported by his recent opponents and most members of Michigan’s congressional delegation” and already exceed every other member of the delegation in yearly average reimbursements.
How far is 32,350 miles? Let’s do some math:
- Enough to “make hundreds of trips across Barrett’s entire mid-Michigan congressional district.”
- Or “cross the continental United States more than 11 times.”
- Or “circle the Earth once with about 7,000 miles left to spare.”
Barrett’s large reimbursements are the latest proof point in a pattern of questionable campaign spending from Barrett, who faced scrutiny for funneling campaign cash to his wife’s companies and refused to answer questions about if he benefited.
Barrett must answer questions about “if the reimbursements included miles Barrett did not actually drive or trips that were not campaign-related” – or a reimbursement rate that takes advantage of and far exceeds the standard IRS rate – as these payments raise red flags under “federal campaign finance rules that prohibit candidates from using campaign funds for personal expenses.”
DCCC Spokesperson Katie Smith:
“Once again, Tom Barrett gets caught funneling campaign cash to his own pockets. Michiganders are sick and tired of this kind of slimy inside dealing and these payments raise serious questions about whether Barrett was fudging the reimbursement rate, funding personal travel on his campaign’s dime, or using his campaign as a personal piggy bank.”
Read more:
Detroit Metro Times: Rep. Barrett claimed enough campaign driving to circle Earth once — and then some
- If U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett’s mileage reimbursements are accurate, the Michigan Republican drove enough campaign-related miles to circle the Earth once with about 7,000 miles left to spare.
- From January 2024 through March 2026, Barrett’s campaign reimbursed him $21,908.83 for mileage, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings reviewed by Metro Times.
- Using the Internal Revenue Service standard mileage rates for those years, the reimbursements equal about 32,350 miles. That’s enough to drive from Michigan to California and back about seven times, cross the continental United States more than 11 times, or make hundreds of trips across Barrett’s entire mid-Michigan congressional district.
- Barrett’s reimbursements are notable because they far exceed the mileage payments reported by his recent opponents and most members of Michigan’s congressional delegation. In 2024, Barrett reimbursed himself $17,142.05 for mileage, equal to about 25,585 miles using the IRS rate of 67 cents per mile. In 2025, he reimbursed himself another $3,900.81, equal to about 5,572 miles at 70 cents per mile. Through the first quarter of 2026, he reimbursed himself $865.64, equal to about 1,193 miles at 72.5 cents per mile.
- By comparison, Barrett’s 2024 Democratic opponent, Curtis Hertel, reimbursed himself $2,197.53 for mileage during the same election cycle. Former U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Barrett’s 2022 opponent and predecessor in the 7th District, did not reimburse herself for mileage during her 2024 U.S. Senate campaign, according to FEC filings.
- The reimbursements also stand out among Michigan Republicans in Congress. Barrett’s average annual mileage reimbursements were nearly $9,800 from 2024 through the first quarter of 2026. By comparison, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga averaged about $3,327 a year in self-mileage reimbursements from 2009 to 2022, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg averaged about $2,372 from 2008 to 2019, and U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar averaged about $1,075 from 2014 to 2023, according to FEC records.
- If the reimbursements included miles Barrett did not actually drive or trips that were not campaign-related, they could raise questions under federal campaign finance rules that prohibit candidates from using campaign funds for personal expenses. Civil penalties can apply, and knowing and willful violations can carry steeper fines. The FEC also can refer violations to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution.
- Barrett’s campaign did not respond to Metro Times’ questions about the mileage, including whether he has documentation to support the reimbursement claims.
- The mileage reimbursements come amid serious questions about Barrett’s ethics and campaign spending, which are presenting Democrats with an opportunity to win back the seat.
- Earlier this year, Democrats criticized Barrett after Politico reported that his campaign and joint fundraising committee paid nearly $56,000 to firms where his wife, Ashley Barrett, worked as a campaign finance lawyer.
- Barrett’s campaign and joint fundraising committee, Barrett Brigade Victory Fund, paid the law firm Butzel Long $31,000 for legal services during the 2024 campaign cycle, according to FEC records. Ashley Barrett was hired as counsel at Butzel Long in May 2023. The firm also contributed more than $13,000 to Barrett’s campaign and joint fundraising committee in 2024, after not donating to his unsuccessful 2022 campaign against Slotkin.
- The campaign also sharply increased payments to Aristotle International, a political software firm that hired Ashley Barrett as a compliance attorney in February 2023. Barrett’s campaign has said the payments were legitimate and unrelated to Ashley Barrett’s compensation.
- Barrett has also drawn criticism from Democrats over his co-sponsorship of H.R. 143, a bill critics say jeopardizes more than $100 billion a year in Veterans Affairs medical funding.
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