State Rep. Chynah Tyler to pay $6K after spending campaign funds on personal uses, including takeout, salon visit

Politics

According to public records, the charges included $223 at a hair-braiding salon, various Uber Eats deliveries, and $100 for a AAA membership. 

By Abby Patkin

January 6, 2026 | 4:11 PM

1 minute to read

A Roxbury lawmaker has agreed to pay the state $6,000 after she spent several thousand dollars in campaign funds last year on personal expenses that ranged from Dunkin’ orders to a salon visit, according to campaign finance regulators.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance faulted Democratic state Rep. Chynah Tyler for spending about $5,664 in campaign money for her personal use, a Jan. 5 disposition agreement shows. The lawmaker already reimbursed her campaign an additional $827 in “erroneous personal expenditures,” according to the agreement.

Public records shed some light on the charges, which included $223 at a hair-braiding salon, various takeout orders and Uber Eats deliveries, and $100 for a AAA membership. OCPF further accused Tyler and her campaign of failing to keep detailed financial records in accordance with state law.

“Any committee expenditure that is not supported by bills, receipts, or other documentation reflecting the purpose of the expenditure creates a presumption that the expenditure was made for personal use,” OCPF explained.

Campaign finance regulators also cited Tyler for filing late disclosures and accepting individual donations that exceeded the annual $1,000 limit. 

Tyler did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. In a response included in the OCPF agreement, however, she explained she experienced limited mobility after giving birth in the winter of 2025, “which impacted my ability to personally oversee certain campaign finance activities.”

She said her campaign has worked to right the wrongs state regulators flagged, also correcting the issue with personal expenditures “by personally reimbursing the committee to ensure full compliance.”

Tyler was first elected to the Massachusetts Legislature in 2016, edging out embattled community activist Monica Cannon-Grant in the primary. She serves as vice chair of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight and represents a district that stretches from Fenway to Roxbury.

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.