VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A candidate running to be Virginia Beach’s next mayor is defending his use of campaign funds to take his family to Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
Councilman Chris Taylor spent $307 total with Sea World Parks & Entertainment LLC, the owners of the theme park, in July and August this year according to his latest campaign finance filing. The expenditures were made on four separate dates, with the first being on July 24 and the most recent on Aug. 28.
The report classified the expenses simply as “advertising.”
However, Taylor confirms, the money bought tickets to the park.
“We have three huge attractions and amusements in the State of Virginia,” Taylor said. “Our aquarium is the third most visited, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens. What I did as a millennial, young, not someone who has been running the same campaign, was that we ordered baseball jerseys and uniforms that said ‘Chris Taylor’ on the front ’24 for mayor.’”
Taylor said he …