FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: rserrano@axiomstrategies.com

LAS VEGAS – Nevada State Treasurer candidate Tya Mathis-Coleman accepted a $1,000 campaign contribution from disgraced former Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow, more than eight years after Barlow pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud involving stolen campaign funds.

Barlow admitted to secretly diverting $49,125 in campaign money for his personal use, keeping another $17,000 in unreported cash contributions, and causing his campaign to file false campaign-finance reports with the Nevada Secretary of State.

According to recent state campaign-finance records, Barlow’s March 26, 2026, contribution to Mathis-Coleman was his only reported political contribution of the 2026 election cycle, illustrating the convicted felon’s enthusiastic support for having Mathis-Coleman oversee more than $11 billion of taxpayers’ money.

“The State Treasurer is a position of trust: you’re promising Nevadans you are honest and responsible enough to protect their hard-earned dollars,” said Drew Johnson, the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. “Mathis-Coleman’s decision to accept money from a criminal convicted of stealing supporters’ donations raises legitimate questions about whether she has the judgment and integrity to serve as Treasurer,” Johnson said.

Barlow was sentenced to one month in federal prison, three months in a halfway house, eight months of home confinement, three years of supervised release, and a $66,125 fine.

“I would never dream of accepting a donation from a felon whose crime involved stealing campaign funds and falsifying financial reports,” Johnson said. “But apparently, Mathis-Coleman is comfortable putting self-interest above sound moral judgment, and that’s exactly the type of person who has no business serving as Treasurer.”

Johnson’s campaign has asked Mathis-Coleman to answer two questions: Why did she willingly take a contribution from a felonious financial fraudster? And will she return Barlow’s shady contribution?

Drew Johnson is the Republican nominee for Nevada State Treasurer. He has spent his career in government finance and as a government watchdog exposing waste, fraud, and abuse and fighting to save taxpayers billions of dollars. He intends to continue fighting to protect taxpayers as Nevada’s Treasurer.

For more information about Drew Johnson’s campaign for Nevada State Treasurer, visit DrewForNevada.com.

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