'Political hit job': Stephen Varela denies allegations of misusing union money
Pueblo politico Stephen Varela is accused of misusing union money and appears to be under federal investigation, the Denver Post reported last week.
The Post reported that five current and former union officials confirmed investigators have interviewed them about Varela’s time as president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2430.
Whistleblowers who spoke to the Post estimated that Varela took $100,000 of union money, according to the newspaper's investigation.
But Varela, an appointed member of the Colorado Board of Education and current Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District, vehemently denied the allegations in an interview with the Chieftain and called them politically motivated.
The claims against Varela
Varela, a former social worker with the VA, started as president of AFGE Local 2430 in 2016. He allegedly spent union money without membership approval and proper accounting, multiple union officials told the Denver Post.
For example, whistleblowers claimed that Varela attended copious conferences and stayed at pricey hotels.
Varela said that he was attending conferences to fulfill his duties as union president. He also said that he “always did everything by protocol” and chose less expensive options.
The Southern Colorado local chapter of AFGE merged with the Denver-based Local 1117 in 2020, not because of the allegations about Varela but due to broad federal changes under the Trump administration that weakened labor unions, according to the Post.
Andre Cunningham, the president of AFGE Local 1117, told the Denver Post that Varela was “not compliant” with federal investigators in early 2020 and did not turn over bank account information.
When contacted by the Chieftain, a representative from Local 1117 referred questions to the regional AFGE office. AFGE District 11 Vice President Tim Snyder referred comments to the national AFGE office after consulting with the union's counsel.
A request for comment to the AFGE communications inbox was not returned.
Varela said that he left AFGE on good terms and has not heard from federal investigators.
He speculated that the allegations in Post’s report could be a "political hit job" since the national AFGE union contributes to some Democratic organizations.
“They know I'm a Republican, I'm running for Congress. I have a great chance of winning this district,” Varela said.
In a fundraising email shared with the Chieftain, Varela referred to the Post's reporting as "fake news" multiple times.
Varela’s campaign consultant, Alan Philp, shared documents with the Chieftain that show that AFGE higher-ups reviewed financial records from 2018 and 2019 for Varela’s local that affirmed proper accounting.
What is the status of the investigation?
According to the Post’s reporting, the feds have been looking into Varela’s tenure as the union president for nearly four years. But the Department of Labor didn’t confirm or deny that an investigation was happening, per department protocol.
A spokesperson for the DOL did not respond to the Chieftain’s request for comment seeking further details.
What Varela has been up to
Varela ran briefly for Pueblo City Council in 2019 and was defeated in 2022 as the Republican candidate for Pueblo County’s state senate seat. State voting records show that Varela has switched his party affiliation at least 18 times since 2010.
He used to be the president of the board at Dolores-Huerta Charter School in Pueblo but resigned in November 2022 after his loss in the state senate race. After his appointment to the state board of education in early 2023, he was briefly in the running to be the chair of the Colorado Republican Party.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Stephen Varela denies allegations he misused union money
