Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) has built his public image around rejecting “fancy dinners,” telling voters he prefers fishing for blue catfish in D.C.’s Anacostia River. But campaign finance records reveal Vasquez’s fancy dinners have cost donors over $7,000 since 2023, with tabs from high-end restaurants across the country.
In January alone, Vasquez spent nearly $2,000 at upscale eateries in New Mexico, including $1,300 at Rio Chama Prime, a Santa Fe steakhouse serving $61 elk loin and $63 ribeye. That same month, he dropped $555 at M’tucci’s Bar Roma. In D.C., he has enjoyed $98 duck entrées and $140 porterhouse steaks at the Duck and the Peach, along with $400 bills at Sonoma.
The spending spree extended far beyond his district. Vasquez spent $200 at a Santa Monica sushi bar with $300 sake bottles, $500 in Jackson, Wyo., and $220 at an upscale Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan—2,100 miles from his constituents.
All of this contrasts sharply with his folksy July video holding a catfish and saying, “A lot of people like to eat fancy dinners, expensive dinners. I like to… catch some nice, little blue catfish.” The fish, however, comes with health warnings from D.C. officials due to chemical contaminants.
Facing reelection in a Trump-won, working-class district, Vasquez’s high-dollar dining habits—and past scandals—could make his “man of the people” act a tough sell.
