Patricia McKeon

Patricia Kunz McKeon is a candidate in the 2012 election to succeed term-limited California Assembly member Cameron Smyth in the . She has never ran for public office before and is a Republican. She lives in Santa Clarita and works as a campaign treasurer for her husband, United States Congressman .
Background
McKeon was born in Arcadia in 1942. After dropping out of Brigham Young University to marry her husband Buck in 1962, they moved to Santa Clarita. She raised six children, served on a local PTA, and volunteered with a local Boy Scouts troop. After her husband was elected to Santa Clarita City mayor she was chosen to replace him as a board member for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.
Upon her husband's election to the U.S. Congress in 1992, she became active working with his campaign committee as well as working in local and national politics.
Work as a lobbyist
In 1999 McKeon worked as a lobbyist for the firm Tongour & Scott. She was paid $40,000 for only a few months worth of work. She was lobbying for CSX Corporation.
She has also been a lobbyist for AT&T.
Controversies
Salary from husband's campaign
McKeon receives a $78,000/year salary from her husband's campaign committee. As a congressman her husband Buck McKeon is prohibited from personally profiting from his campaign contributions. However there is no such prohibition against a spouse receiving such payments. Congressman McKeon states that "Patricia gets paid by the campaign as a senior staff member for handling multiple critical elements." Since 2007 she has received over $264,000, including a bonus of $4,600 in January of 2007. The payments made from the campaign to Patricia McKeon over this time period were the highest among congressional representatives who paid family members.
Personal life
She and her husband Buck McKeon reside in Valencia, California. They are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have six children: Tamara McKeon Morrison, Howard D. McKeon, John M. McKeon, Kimberly McKeon Kosorok, David O. McKeon and Tricia McKeon Logan; and thirty-one grandchildren.

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