Signs point to ‘yes’.
Let’s take a trip in the Not-So-Wayback Machine to December of 2021. December 30, to be specific. Progressive candidate Becca Cotto is running an insurgent campaign against longtime Rep. Heffernan (Heffernan ultimately had both Sarah McBride and Matt Meyer come to her rescue just in time for the primary, but, I digress).
On December 30, 2021, Rep. Heffernan received a $600 contribution from Ed Mulvihill. On that same day, she also received a $600 contribution from Peco Liquor Store, Inc. Mulvihill describes himself as the sole owner and operator of Peco Liquor Store, which is officially a Delaware corporation. Meaning, if he’s telling the truth, Heffernan, Mulvihill, and Peco Liquors violated Delaware’s campaign laws.
To be specific:
Del. Code Title 15, S. (I can’t do that fancy section logo, sorry) 8012 reads as follows:
A ratable portion of the contribution by the corporation, partnership or other entity shall be deemed to be a contribution under this chapter to the political committee by each such person who owns a 50% or greater interest in the entity, shall be included within the limit imposed by this section on individual contributions, and shall be so included in the reports filed by the candidate committee with the Commissioner under § 8030 of this title.
In other words (barristers, please prove me wrong), a business owner who’s a sole proprietor can’t max out an individual contribution and then max out a contribution from their business. They can do one or the other. $600 in total for a legislative race, not $1200.
C’mon, folks, ‘fess up.
Also, per usual, the Department of Elections is far less diligent than they could should be. The Department of Elections seems to not disclose ownership of business entities that donate, despite the fact that they are supposed to be keeping track of that information. Does anybody seriously think that this apparent violation is the only sweetheart handshake deal that is illegal under Delaware law, but is done with a wink and a nod and no look whatsoever from the ‘enforcement agency’?
In some ways, I can’t blame the Department of Elections. Delaware’s elected officials prefer a system where Delaware Way stuff like this remains opaque. At least, they have up until now. It’s long past time for our elected officials to insist on more transparency on these casual elections violations.
I sincerely hope that someone, anyone, will take this and run with it. The alternative is–corruption as usual.