On March 30, 2026, the campaign of Katy Padilla Stout — the Democratic nominee for Texas' 23rd Congressional District — spent $675 at a place called Nini's Cookies. The expense was filed with the FEC under the description "cookies for event."
That was just the appetizer.
FEC filings show Padilla Stout's campaign dropped $4,338.14 on cookies, donuts, alcohol, and Mexican food over a four-month stretch. On April 21, the campaign rang up $1,089.08 and another $200.14 at Total Wine in San Antonio. Six days later, on April 27 and 28, Las Guitarras Cocina Mexicana got $2,027.52 and $346.40 from the campaign account. One of the cookie line items was described as "personalized cookies for victory tour."
A victory tour. She hasn't won anything yet.
The filings started circulating on social media and the reaction was immediate. "This is kind of crazy what is going on in Texas," posted one user on X. The numbers aren't enormous in the grand scheme of campaign finance — we're not talking about a private jet here. But the specifics are what make it sting. Personalized cookies. A victory tour. Two separate trips to Total Wine in one day.
Campaign donors in TX-23 wrote checks expecting those dollars to go toward yard signs, digital ads, and voter outreach. What they got instead was a catering invoice and a liquor store receipt.
The broader pattern is what makes this more than a funny FEC filing. 73 of 100 U.S. senators have a median net worth exceeding $1 million, with the average sitting around $4 to $5 million. Congressional approval has hovered near 10 percent for over 15 years. Voters keep sending people to Washington who treat campaign accounts like personal expense cards, then wonder why nothing changes.
Padilla Stout is running in a competitive district. The kind of race where every dollar is supposed to count. Where campaign managers agonize over whether to spend the last $500 on a mailer or a Facebook ad buy.
Her campaign spent it at a cookie shop. Then went to the taco place. Then stopped at the liquor store. Twice.
If Stout is this loose with donor money, imagine how she'll spend taxpayer's money.
