Following an investigation finding that gubernatorial candidate and current lieutenant governor Bethany Hall-Long has broken several campaign finance laws since 2016, some Democratic state lawmakers are publicly sharing their concerns.
State Rep. Sophie Phillips (D-Bear) released a statement Monday calling for Hall-Long to end her bid for governor after a Department of Election's commissioned investigation found her financial reporting to be "incomplete, inconsistent, and often inaccurate.”
Phillips points out the report found Hall-Long’s husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana Long, wrote 112 checks from the campaign committee account to himself, to Hall-Long or to "cash" — totaling just under $300,000 — and were never reported as campaign expenditures.
While Hall-Long has claimed the money was used to repay loans her family had made to the campaign, no documentation of those loans were made, and the report found that she and her husband had received payments totaling $33,000 more than what she allegedly loaned to her campaign.
Phillips says whether the acts are “corruption, or at the very best, incompetence,” the governor’s office needs someone with better financial managerial skills when it comes to overseeing a $6 billion statewide operating budget.
"We need somebody who's competent at recognizing when either something's wrong with the budget or, at the very least, no corruption needs to be at the state level when managing such an important budget that goes to nonprofits, it goes to all of our buildings and important pieces of the state," Phillips said. "So we can't have somebody that's in that high level of office that is incapable of running at least a campaign; this is way more than a campaign — $6 billion is extremely important."
Phillips notes she's not alone in her concerns, explaining she has heard similar apprehensions from her constituents and fellow lawmakers.
“I've been getting emails — I think it's over 70 emails at this point — from constituents, and there are some of my colleagues that have some concerns as well. So my job is to stand up for my constituents, and when I'm getting emails that this is how they feel and they want her to stop her campaign, then I have to speak for them.”
Although not directly calling for Hall-Long to end her gubernatorial bid, State Sen. Laura Sturgeon (D-Brandywine) is among some of the other legislators concerned with Hall-Long's campaign finance reporting.
As a member of the Joint Finance Committee, the body in-charge of creating the state’s operating budget, Sturgeon agrees with Phillips that there are some concerns with how Hall-Long's campaign finance management could translate to her potential governorship.
“It's very concerning that we have someone who there are all these question marks now about their ability to manage money. The amount of money in a campaign is miniscule compared to a state budget of upwards of $6 billion," Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon says it's important to her to see a Democrat win the general election for governor, and with the primary election approaching to select which Democratic candidate will go head-to-head with the Republican nominee, she's concerned that Hall-Long may have lost the public's trust and in-turn cost the Democratic party winning the election.
"What resonates most with me is the concern about people not being able to trust the person who's running to manage the entire state budget. The legislature ultimately decides on the budget, but obviously the governor has to sign that budget, and the governor puts forth a recommended budget from which we work — so it's the trust factor."
Sturgeon says the decision on whether Hall-Long's campaign finance mismanagement is a "disqualifying factor" should be left to the voters, but she encourages Delawareans to read the full report so they have all of the information to make a decision at the polls in September.
"I really do think Bethany Hall-Long has been an incredible public servant for decades now, and I find it sad that we find ourselves in this situation, but I also don't think we should put our heads in the sand and pretend it's not happening," Sturgeon said.
State Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (D-Wilmington) says the report signaled to him that Delaware's campaign finance laws need to be looked at and potentially reworked.
"What needs to change in our law so that we can avoid this type of thing from happening again? Because it seems that there is something that we need to change that has not made these transgressions rise to the level of what
is being deemed unlawful through our election commission or through the [attorney general's] office."
Chukwuocha is referring to an email chain between state Election Commissioner Anthony Albence and Hall-Long, in which Albence told Hall-Long he would not be calling for an investigation from the Department of Justice:
"Please be advised that I do not intend to refer this matter to the Attorney General as permitted under Section 302A(a)(3); however, I fully expect the [Committee to Elect Bethany Hall-Long] to take prompt corrective action by filing the necessary amended campaign finance reports to ensure all Committee transactions (including but not limited to those identified in the Report) during the referenced period (2016 through 2023) are accurately and fully reported."
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings released a statement agreeing with the commissioner's conclusion that Delaware code’s definition of campaign finance crime "is too narrow to prosecute," but expressed similar concerns to Chukwuocha that maybe the laws need to be reevaluated.
"That Delaware’s campaign finance laws are unclear enough to permit those inadequacies — not just of this campaign, but theoretically of any — tells me that they beg for reform. To leave them unchanged would enable future disregard for proper intake, disbursement, and reporting of campaign dollars, and encourage the atrophy of a system that the public relies on," she wrote. "Pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 2503, my office will be working to recommend reforms to the General Assembly that would seal these gaps and enable the kind of accountability that warrants the public’s trust in our campaign finance rules.”
Chukwuocha did not join Phillips in calling for Hall-Long to end her bid for governor, but agrees with Sturgeon in that the public's trust may be shaken.
"I do see challenges — [I'm] just being honest. I think that what's being presented to me shows a history of some things that give me pause, and I'm sure I'm not alone, and I mean, it's her decision to make but I think as a constituent of our state, it gives me some pause."
Hall-Long has often touted the endorsement of Democratic state legislators, including House Speaker Valerie Longhurst (D-Bear), House Majority Leader Melissa Minor-Brown (D-New Castle) and Joint Finance Committee Chair Trey Paradee (D-Dover).
She has also been endorsed by Gov. John Carney and is backed by the Delaware Democratic Party.
All five Democratic members of the Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee, including Chair Darius Brown (D-Wilmington), Vice Chair Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown), State Sen. Kyle Evans Gay (D-Talleyville), State Sen. Kyra Hoffner (D-Dover) and State Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos (D-Elsmere) did not respond for comment.
The current lieutenant governor faces New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O'Mara in the gubernatorial Democratic primary in September.
On Monday, Meyer called for a federal investigation into Hall-Long’s campaign finances.