Republican candidate hangs up on reporter when asked why she isn't paying campaign staff

Former New York Police Department officer Alison Esposito recently launched a Republican campaign for New York's 18th Congressional District, taking on Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan. But she doesn't appear to have reported paying any of her campaign staff — and she isn't keen on discussing why.

According to Timmy Facciola of the Times Union, "her most recently available campaign finance records [show] Esposito did not pay anyone on her campaign in the three months after launching it last year. From October through December, she does not have any payroll entries in the itemized disbursements she filed with the Federal Election Commission, where candidates must report how they spend campaign funds."

Esposito has been endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and made several campaign appearances with incumbent House Republicans.

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"Ben Weiner, Esposito’s campaign manager, accepted his position in October, according to a post on his LinkedIn page, and fielded press inquiries from the Times Union that month. Esposito’s campaign also has a communications director, Clay Sutton," said the report, noting that "It is not known if Esposito’s staff is being paid now."

When the Times Union called Esposito to ask her to explain this, the report continued, she asked the reporter to "send her communications team another inquiry and then hung up. Her team did not respond to additional inquiries."

This comes as New York Republicans are facing some struggles in their efforts to hold the seats they won in the state in 2022, where they performed far better than Republicans around most of the country. Long Island Rep. George Santos was expelled in a bipartisan vote following a criminal indictment and blistering ethics report, leading to a special election which saw former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi reclaim the seat. Santos is now threatening to run as an independent in a neighboring district to sabotage Rep. Nick LaLota, another Republican lawmaker who voted for his expulsion.