October 2, 2026
Joshua Wurtzel was recently quoted in the New York Post on California gubernatorial frontrunner Xavier Becerra hiring his daughter, Clarisa Reyes-Becerra, as an official campaign aid.
In the article “Xavier Becerra pays daughter more than $17K to work on California governor campaign,” The Post shares that Reyes-Becerra, an immigration attorney, was initially a volunteer before becoming a paid deputy policy director.
The issue, Joshua explains, is not that she’s working for the campaign, but whether or not she’s doing what she’s being paid for.
“Is she actually doing the work that she is being paid for?” Joshua tells the New York Post. “Is the amount that she is being paid market rate for that type of person doing that type of work, or is it above market, right?”
The optics, he continues, are also risky for Becerra.
“It certainly gives your adversary something to point to and try to say, there, this is nepotism,” he adds. “You’re using campaign funds to pay your family. It’s some degree of vulnerability for the candidate.”
Read the full article in the New York Post.
Joshua Wurtzel is a partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP who focuses his practice on complex commercial, real-estate, and commercial-lending litigation. He has been recognized on the Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch® in America” list in Commercial Litigation and the New York Metro Super Lawyers® "Rising Stars" list in Business Litigation.