WILMINGTON, Del. - Delaware gubernatorial candidate and current Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and her husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana, were found in a forensic review to have received payments totaling $33,000 more than what she allegedly loaned her campaign.
The audit, commissioned by the Delaware Department of Elections and conducted by Forensic Litigation Consultants of Pennsylvania, has uncovered substantial irregularities and significant issues with financial reporting and expenditures in the campaign's finances, according to the Associated Press.
The review also highlighted discrepancies in check reporting by Hall-Long’s husband. Jeffrey Lampinski, a certified fraud examiner and retired FBI senior executive, found that Dana Long wrote four checks to himself but reported them as payments to others, and similarly misreported another check as issued to someone else when it actually went to former campaign fundraiser Jennifer Mueller, according to the Associated Press. The reason why is still unclear.
In a statement issued Friday night Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long says she has been cooperating with the Department of Elections on a confidential process to amend previous campaign finance reports.
"As the letter from the Elections Commissioner states, none of this will be referred to the Attorney General," Lt. Gov. Hall-Long says. "Contrary to the Lampinski preliminary report, our family has loaned the campaign more money than we have been reimbursed and we have forgiven that remaining loan balance."
Lampinski's report, which the AP says was written in response to a FOIA request, reveals that from January 2016 to December 2023, Dana Long issued 112 checks from the campaign account totaling just under $300,000, intended for himself or cash and one to Hall-Long. Of these, 109 checks were unreported, and the remaining four were inaccurately reported.
These findings come amid heightened scrutiny of Hall-Long's campaign, which began in September 2023 when she postponed a campaign event with Gov. John Carney, citing a personal matter. This delay followed revelations of major discrepancies in the campaign’s financial reports, leading to resignations within her campaign staff.
In response to the scrutiny, Hall-Long’s campaign announced in October that an audit by Summit CPA had found no wrongdoing, although the audit report has not been released. Subsequently, in November, the campaign submitted amended finance reports correcting over $300,000 in misreported campaign loans, which Hall-Long's campaign had said were repayments to loans she had made personally to her campaign. Officials indicated that $200,000 of these loans were repaid, leaving Hall-Long still owed over $100,000.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, a rival in the Democratic primary, has criticized Hall-Long regarding her handling of campaign finances, calling her assurances of thorough financial oversight "misleading." On Friday, Meyer's campaign shared a statement from former State Chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party Erik Raser-Schramm that called for the Delaware Democratic Party to rescind its endorsement of Hall-Long. He became more vocal in June after a WHYY report noted over-limit donations to Hall-Long's campaign.
"If Bethany Hall-Long cannot manage a few hundred thousand dollars, how can she manage $6 billion of our tax money?" he said in a June statement. He also demanded the release of Hall-Long's fall audit results.
In a June response, Hall-Long defended her campaign practices, asserting that over-limit donations are common and have been refunded as required. She dismissed Meyer’s accusations as political maneuvering and emphasized that her campaign remains focused on Delaware’s needs.
The most recent forensic review’s findings and Hall-Long’s responses reflect ongoing tensions and controversies in Delaware’s gubernatorial race, which also includes fellow Democrat and former State Environmental Secretary Collin O’Mara, Republican and Delaware Rep. Mike Ramone and Republican Jerry Price. The audit report has become a focal point in the campaign, with Delaware’s Attorney General’s office emphasizing the critical need for campaign finance reform.
"... Mr. Lampinski’s report is an indictment of the campaign finance code itself," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings in a statement to CoastTV Friday. "Delaware’s code does not contain a criminal statute that adequately describes the campaign’s actions in light of the State's extremely high burden of proof, and of a defense attorney's ability to credibly attribute the committee's errors to carelessness.
"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," her statement continued.
Hall-Long's campaign responded to CoastTV's request for comment with a statement in which she said she had "absolutely not" personally benefited from the campaign when it comes to her personal finances.
"These recent stories are being stirred up and sensationalized by Matt Meyer, who is desperate to attack Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long because he is far down in the polls," a her campaign said. Public Policy Polling from July 16 shows Hall-Long leads the way in the Democratic primary with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Meyer with 19 percent and O'Mara with 9 percent.
"Having the Attorney General and the elections commissioner say again, there are no charges for criminal behavior, I think is important," Hall-Long said in an interview on DETV.
On Monday, Hall-Long's campaign shared concerns regarding the influence of Philip Shawe, a businessman and co-CEO of TransPerfect, a global family of companies, on Meyer. Hall-Long claimed Meyer is prioritizing the interests of a wealthy benefactor's super PAC over Delawareans. She cited her list of endorsements, as well, which includes Gov. John Carney, the Delaware State Education Association, the State Democratic Party of Delaware and individual members of the Delaware Senate and House of Representatives.
The latest on Delaware's elections leading up to the Sept. 10 primaries can be found on CoastTV.com/Decision2024.
