Gov. Bobby Jindal has been spending handily from his state campaign account, though he isn’t up for re-election and hasn’t announced plans to run for any other office in Louisiana.
The Associated Press reports that in his latest campaign finance report, the Republican governor documents nearly $1.5 million in spending throughout 2014. The report lists 200 pages of expenses for the year, spending that could help the term-limited Jindal grow the political network needed for a possible 2016 presidential bid.
Nearly $578,000 was spent on political consulting, digital advertising and polling, according to the report filed with the state Board of Ethics. Another $132,000 was paid to a fundraising expert. Office space was also rented, and campaign employees were paid. And $157,000 covered plane tickets, hotels, meals, cabs and other expenses as Jindal traveled the country for speeches and political appearances that raise his national profile.
Jindal has said he’s considering a presidential campaign and would announce his decision later this year.
The governor’s office referred questions about the report to Jindal’s chief political adviser, Timmy Teepell, who tells AP that the spending was allowable under restrictions governing the state campaign account and was not tied to a possible White House candidacy.
“You can’t use it to run for a federal office, and he’s not a candidate for a federal office,” Teepell says.
The expenses listed in Jindal’s latest campaign finance report go well beyond Louisiana.
While a small portion of last year’s $157,000 in travel expenses involved the governor’s economic development trip to Asia, much of the spending covered the costs of Jindal’s speeches and appearances at Republican events around the country. More than one-third of the spending, nearly $578,000, was sent to OnMessage Inc., the Washington, D.C.-area political consulting firm where Teepell works. The firm was paid a monthly retainer that began the year at $28,000 and grew to $30,000 for its services, plus additional payments for polling, research and advertising on social media sites.
Teepell said the monthly retainer “covers my time, providing advice and counsel on all sorts of issues dealing with state government issues. That may be policy issues or budget issues or legislative issues or communications issues.”
