More essential reporting from Cris Barrish and WHYY News. Read the article:
This would be bad enough when taken by itself. However, when you consider the ‘borrowing’ of something like $200 K from donors, the alleged ‘audit’ that she won’t release to the public, the satellite PAC’s set up for the sole purpose of helping her campaign, and the shady characters who comprise her team, it is inexplicable that neither the Department of Elections nor the Attorney General’s office have taken any action to shut down what has all the earmarks of an illegal enterprise.
I’m sure that you’ve read the article by now. To me, among the key takeaways are:
Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall Long’s gubernatorial campaign has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from political action committees and individuals that exceed the $1,200-per-donor limit, WHYY News has found.
The donations Hall Long has taken in violation of Delaware campaign law have come from at least two PACs that are not registered with the state Department of Elections, as required by law, as well as doctors, developers, lawyers and other supporters who have contributed to her since 2021…
Lawyers? Don’t they know the law? Didn’t someone once say that ignorance of the law is no excuse? Doesn’t that especially apply to lawyers?
Hall-Long would not agree to an interview for this story but issued a statement that said she was refunding over-payments.
Speaking of not commenting:
State elections commissioner Anthony Albence did not respond to a request for comment on Hall Long’s excessive donations. Albence also has not spoken publicly about the controversy over the previously undisclosed loans that the lieutenant governor reported late in 2023.
I betcha that if Carney wasn’t BHL’s biggest cheerleader, he, or perhaps a more responsible governor, would have fired Albence’s ass long ago. As it is Albence is carrying water for both Carney and Hall Long. That makes him irreplaceable.
The excuses from those who contributed in excess are pathetic. Brian DiSabatino? He and his firm contribute to a shitload of candidates. But he ‘look(s) to the candidates for a little bit of guidance” so that they don’t exceed the limits’? Bullshit.
Oh, and James Maravelias? He spends his days trying to find ways around campaign finance laws.
Collin O’Mara cut through the crap:
O’Mara, who headed the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control from 2009 to 2014 under then-Gov. Jack Markell, added that it’s clear to him that “Delaware’s campaign finance laws are increasingly not worth the paper they’re written on, especially if there’s no enforcement and no accountability.”
O’Mara said the next gubernatorial administration should “completely rewrite the entire campaign finance law with the General Assembly.”
There’s only one Democratic candidate for Governor who we know won’t look to rewrite those laws. The one who benefits from running a lawless campaign.
Bethany Hall Long.