News
Campaign Finance Review Finds Discrepancies in Delaware Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s Reports
DOVER — Nearly 10 months after Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s campaign discovered discrepancies in past finance reports, an independent forensic review has called the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s filings “incomplete, inconsistent and frequently inaccurate.”
The review, commissioned by the state Elections Department and led by retired FBI executive Jeffrey Lampinski of Philadelphia-based Forensic Litigation Consultants, determined that the lieutenant governor and her husband, Dana Long — her former campaign treasurer — received reimbursements of more than $33,100 more than what was personally loaned to her campaign.
“Their proven advances to the campaign total $265,914.81. They disbursed $299,093.46. The net amount represents a balance owed to the campaign,” Lampinski wrote in the report, obtained by The Associated Press and WHYY News last week through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The release of the report comes after months of questions about Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s gubernatorial campaign and finances, dating back to her first statewide bid for lieutenant governor in 2016. Just two weeks after launching her September 2023 gubernatorial bid, she paused fundraising to address “discrepancies” in previous reports.
This led to an audit that was not released to the public, although an overview of the altered campaign finance reports was shared.
After the internal review concluded in November 2023, Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s campaign said she and her family improperly listed personal loans as race-related expenses.
She said the review found no wrongdoing, determining that she loaned $308,000 to her campaign using personal credit cards and borrowed more than $101,000 more than she received.
Those questions arise as Lt. Gov. Hall-Long is one of three Democratic candidates running for Delaware’s chief executive. She will face New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O’Mara in the Sept. 10 primary.
In a statement Friday following the report’s release, the lieutenant governor said she disclosed those discrepancies and has cooperated fully with the Department of Elections during a “confidential process to amend previous campaign finance reports.”
She noted that in a letter from state election commissioner Anthony Albence, he said the findings would not be forwarded to the attorney general’s office and that, contrary to the preliminary forensic report, the Long family loaned their effort more money than it repaid and forgave the remaining balance of the loan.
According to the Associated Press, Mr. Albence wrote in the letter that he expected the Hall-Long campaign to “take immediate corrective action” by submitting corrected campaign finance reports addressing the inconsistencies.
“Voters want a governor who will champion their issues, like funding strong public education, protecting reproductive freedom, increasing access to affordable health care, and fighting to improve the quality of life for working families,” Lt. Gov. Hall-Long said in Friday’s statement. “If elected governor, I will work tirelessly every day to do just that.”
In the forensic review, Mr. Lampinski noted five instances in which Mr. Long misreported campaign checks: four checks to himself that were falsely reported as made out to other people, and a check to former campaign fundraiser Jennifer Mueller that was also misreported.
Mr. Lampinski wrote that he interviewed Mr. Long and questioned him about these incidents, but that Mr. Long said he “did not know that a loan repayment met the definition of an ‘expense’ and therefore should be reported.”
The release of the forensic review has met with resistance from Mr. Meyer, who is also hoping to succeed term-limited Gov. John Carney. The outgoing state leader has endorsed his lieutenant governor.
The county executive held a news conference in Wilmington on Monday, calling for a federal investigation into Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s campaign finances. There, he stood next to a poster depicting a note she wrote that was included in the forensic review. It read: “2019/2020 filings. 2021 and 2022 receipts need to be created!”
Mr. Meyer did not elaborate on which federal campaign finance laws were potentially violated and also said his campaign had not yet contacted the U.S. government about the matter.
“Delawarens, all of us, deserve to be able to trust our elected officials and know that rules and laws apply to everyone and apply to everyone equally,” he said. “Laws do not apply to some more than others. That is why, today, I am calling for a federal investigation into Ms. Hall-Long’s nearly decade-long illegal conduct.”
While Mr. Meyer remains adamant that further investigation is needed, Lt. Gov. Hall-Long is adamant that her campaign committed no wrongdoing.
On Sunday night, she appeared on DETV’s “The Agenda With Kerwin Gaines” and said her family “absolutely did not” personally benefit from the tax evasion.
Meanwhile, polls for the Democratic nomination have seen a contrast in recent months. A Public Policy Polling survey conducted in January found that 31 percent of 661 likely Democratic primary voters favored Lt. Gov. Hall-Long, 19 percent favored Mr. Meyer and 9 percent favored Mr. O’Mara.
A poll by the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association released Thursday showed the same tallies for each candidate, and a similar poll released in early July by the political action committee Citizens for a New Delaware Way showed that Lt. Gov. Hall-Long and Mr. Meyer tied in Democratic support, with 27 percent each.
The group also announced earlier this month that it planned to spend more than $1 million ahead of the Sept. 10 primary to oppose the lieutenant governor’s gubernatorial campaign.
The Hall-Long effort took aim at this announcement after Mr. Meyer’s news conference on Monday, linking the committee to TransPerfect founder and chairman Phil Shawe, who is backing the super PAC. The Delaware Court of Chancery ordered Mr. Shawe and his ex-wife to sell TransPerfect after a lengthy legal battle in 2014.
The campaign described Mr. Shawe as “a bitter billionaire who seeks to settle old scores with the state of Delaware and Governor John Carney at all costs.”
Since the forensic review was released, at least two state lawmakers have called for her to withdraw from the race: Reps. Madinah Wilson-Anton, D-Newark, and Sophie Phillips, D-Bear.