Ethics Board confirms that Louisiana officials, candidates can use campaign cash for D.C. Mardi Gras

By Julie O’Donoghue
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — The Louisiana Board of Ethics confirmed Friday that elected officials and political candidates can use their campaign money for expenses related to Washington Mardi Gras following a law change earlier this year.

The ethics board issued an advisory opinion last week to Mandeville Mayor Clay Madden, stating he can legally use campaign funds to cover his Washington Mardi Gras expenses. Madden intends to go to the event, which take place in 2026 during the last week of January, in his official capacity as a city representative.

“The Mayor intends to travel to the 2026 ‘Washington Mardi Gras’ event to engage in meetings with various stakeholders, including constituents, other municipal leaders, parish presidents, state legislators, and U.S. senators and representatives,” Elizabeth Sconzert, Mandeville’s city attorney, wrote in an email to the ethics board in August.

Washington Mardi Gras is an annual, four-day festival held in the nation’s capital featuring a formal Mardi Gras ball, parade, black-tie gala, business luncheons, political fundraisers and several parties thrown by and for the politically connected. Some of Louisiana’s large companies and lobbyists are among the most visible sponsors of the event.

Including airfare, hotel stays, krewe membership dues, event tickets and formal attire, it easily costs thousands of dollars for an individual to take part in the festivities.

Elected officials have, for years, used their campaign funds to go to Washington Mardi Gras, held at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Nearly $600,000 from Louisiana campaigns and political action committees accounts went to cover Washington Mardi Gras expenses in 2024 alone.

But whether all this spending was allowed under state ethics laws has been unclear. The ethics board’s guidance on whether political campaign money could be used for Mardi Gras-related expenses has been muddled.

State law generally bans the use of campaign funds and political action committee money for “personal use,” but the Louisiana Legislature carved out a explicit exception for Washington Mardi Gras spending earlier this year.

Under the new law, political candidates can use their campaign accounts to cover costs related to their attendance, as well as that of their spouses and children, at “events related to the Mardi Gras celebration in Washington D.C.”

Prior to the law change, legislators had complained the ethics board was scrutinizing campaign account spending on Washington Mardi Gras.

It’s difficult to know what specific questions the ethics board was asking because its investigations are almost always confidential.

This article originally published in the November 17, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.