THE STATE’S CAMPAIGN FINANCE laws are notoriously generous when it comes to the kinds of things politicians can spend money on from their campaign accounts. They can use donations to their campaign on anything that furthers their political interests, a mile-wide definition that has seen state regulators give the green light to expenditures on everything from pricey steak dinners with colleagues to suites at the Beanpot college hockey tournament.
Despite rules that stretch allowable spending to include sometimes eyebrow-raising uses, Beacon Hill officials still seem to regularly manage to find themselves dinged by regulators for stepping beyond those limits.
The latest pol in the unwanted spotlight: state Rep. Chynah Tyler of Boston. Uber Eats, audiobooks, and thousands of dollars in unexplained spending have landed the Roxbury pol in hot water with state political finance regulators.
The Office of Campaign and Political Finance alleged that Tyler misused money from her campaign account for personal expenses in violation of state law, plus ran afoul of other reporting deadlines and record-keeping requirements.
Under the terms of an agreement made public Tuesday, Tyler will pay a $6,000 civil forfeiture to the state and to submit to greater campaign-finance scrutiny by OCPF for the next six months.
Regulators said Tyler made more than $800 in personal expenses “in error” from her campaign account between April 1 and October 20, which she repaid after OCPF inquired.
The office said Tyler’s team did not provide records to explain nearly $4,500 in additional expenses. State law presumes that any campaign spending without supporting documentation is made for personal use.
Tyler did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
In an eight-paragraph statement included in the disposition agreement, Tyler said she gave birth in early 2025 — several months before the alleged personal spending from her campaign account — “and experienced limited mobility during that time, which impacted my ability to personally oversee certain campaign finance activities.”
On August 29, Tyler repaid her campaign committee $726 for personal expenses, and she repaid another $101 on November 2025.
While Tyler wrote in her OCPF statement that she reimbursed her campaign for personal spending “to ensure full compliance,” she did not provide any explanation of the $4,500 that regulators say was not properly documented.
Revised campaign finance reports now include multiple entries labeled “personal expense made in error,” such as a pair of Uber Eats orders, two separate $16.99 “recurring” charges for audiobook service Audible, and a $223 expense at Aicha’s African Hair Braiding in Dorchester.
Regulators dinged Tyler for several other reasons, too. They said her campaign failed to file reports in a timely manner detailing more than $13,000 in deposits between May 31, 2024 and June 28, 2024, which have since been submitted.
Tyler also allegedly received about $900 in combined contributions above the allowable limit from three people. While the campaign said it refunded the excess donations, OCPF wrote that Tyler’s camp did not submit any documentation to support that claim.
The five-term rep, who previously led the Legislature’s Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, owes $1,000 to the state immediately and will repay the remainder of the balance over a period of up to 10 months.
Tyler also agreed for her committee to provide OCPF with invoices, receipts, and other documentation covering all expenditures each month to undergo private regulatory review for six months.
It’s not the first time OCPF has chided Tyler for putting campaign dollars toward personal uses. In 2018, Tyler used $1,600 from her committee account as a “personal loan,” which she later repaid to her campaign.
Several lawmakers in recent years have triggered federal scrutiny through their spending habits. Former state rep David Nangle of Lowell served more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to charges that he used campaign funds on golf club memberships and casino bets.
