New York Democrat Laura Gillen, freshman Rep. Anthony D’Esposito’s challenger in a tossup House district this November, has a history of hiring family friends or their business partners in her official office and on her congressional campaigns, campaign finance and local government records reviewed by the Washington Reporter reveal.

Previously during Gillen’s tenure as Hempstead Town Supervisor, she staffed her office with many locally-connected Democrats, including Cheryl Rice, the sister-in-law of former Rep. Kathleen Rice (D., N.Y.). Cheryl, who previously served as district director while her sister-in-law was a Congresswoman, also donated to Gillen’s failed 2022 campaign against D’Esposito. 

“Laura Gillen is the epitome of cronyism,” Savannah Viar, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) told the Reporter. “The Democrat machine she has installed around her is akin to the worst of Albany and New York City politics.”

Gillen’s official staff also included Adam Haber, a failed Democratic Party perennial candidate for state Senate and county executive, who worked as executive assistant to the supervisor; he recently hosted a fundraiser for Gillen’s congressional campaign.

Other Gillen staffers included alumni of scandal-plagued Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D., N.Y.) office, the children of local Democratic Party operatives, former spokespeople for local Democratic Parties, and more.

Gillen has also paid thousands of dollars directly to her husband’s business partners for services like “video production” and “video editing,” in multiple election cycles, according to Federal Election Commission records. Her husband does have a production company, which does not appear to have received direct payments from her campaign.