The campaign finance reports due on January 15 have raised questions about how much Ricardo Samaniego reported spending on his campaign so early in the election. The incumbent does not have an opponent in the March Democratic primary. There are two Republican women running in the Republican ticket in March. The winner will go on to challenge Samaniego in November for his seat.
The two Republican women are Guadalupe Giner and Minerva Torres Shelton. Giner reported raising $2,637 in campaign contributions and spending $8,251. Torres-Shelton did not file a report suggesting that she did not raise campaign funds and did not spend on her campaign.
Samaniego, on the other hand, reported raising $28,619.04 and spending $42,806.05 in campaign funds. It is the $42 thousand spent that has raised eyebrows because his campaign will not face an opponent until November raising questions about his campaign finance expenses so early in the election, especially in a salary he is paying.
Samaniego’s largest campaign contributor is Gonzalo Diaz for $3,750. Other large contributors include Douglas Schwartz, James R. Rey, Galopoly LLC, and Noe Valles for $2,500 each.
However, it is the payments to Mario Carmona that have raised the most questions about Samaniego’s handling of his campaign funds.
According to Samaniego’s latest campaign finance reports, over a six-month period starting last July, he has paid Mario Carmona almost $20,000, which represents around 47% of his total expenses during that period. In total, Carmona was paid $18,500 for “contract labor” and $1,392.11 for two undisclosed reimbursements.
From online records, it appears that Carmona is responsible for Samaniego’s social media posts and for managing the campaign’s NGP-VAN voter records.
Carmona first appeared in Samaniego’s campaign finance reports on the July 15, 2025, campaign finance report showing that Samaniego paid Carmona $3,000 in two payments on June 25 and June 20, 2025. Both payments were listed as “contract labor.”
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For comparison, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar spent $28,238.12 on four salaries over nine months, according to her latest campaign finance report that covered the period from January 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025, which is the latest report posted by the Federal Election Commission. Escobar also does not face an opponent in the primary after Arturo Andujo failed to collect the necessary signatures to be on the March ballot.
Unlike Samaniego, Escobar’s salaries are for her to staff her elected office. Using campaign funds is allowed for federal offices. However, Samaniego is not allowed to use campaign funds for non-campaign-related expenses.
Nonetheless, Samaniego spent $18,500 on Carmona over six months while Escobar reported spending $28,238 on staff salaries over nine months for four individuals.
As soon as Samaniego’s campaign report was published, readers reach out to us asking for us to investigate why he has spent so much of his campaign funds when he does not face an opponent until November.
Although Republicans surged in 2024 suggesting Escobar faces a more difficult path to victory in November, she has not spent as much as Samaniego on staffing her campaign office.
Samaniego, for his part, continues to have a problem with voters not supporting his candidacy. Voters preferred Estrella Escobar, Oscar Leeser or Brian Kennedy in August last year. However, none of them appear on the March primary ballot.
Notwithstanding the 2024 Republican surge and Samaniego’s negative polling among voters, the two Republicans vying to be on the November ballot have yet to show they have the capability to mount a credible race against Samaniego in November. Giner has raised less than $3,000 in campaign funds and Torres-Shelton has not reported raising any campaign funds, leaving open the question of why Samaniego is spending so much of his campaign funds on Carmona when he does not have an opponent in March.
In 2022, Giner was defeated by Samaniego with 32% of the vote to Samaniego’s 69% of the vote which again raises questions about Samaniego’s campaign expenditures considering that the likely matchup in November appears to be Giner versus Samaniego. Even though Samaniego faces voters that remain apathetic to his campaign, the likelihood of either Republican Giner or Torres-Shelton defeating him remains low today. Neither Giner nor Torres-Shelton have shown any ability to mobilize enough voters to defeat Samaniego.