Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long gubernatorial Friday confirmed that more than $308,000 in previous campaign funds were not listed as loans.
It followed a review of her lieutenant governor campaign finance reports, the campaign nitiated an audit by an independent accountant. Delaware-based Summit CPA fully accounted for all personal loans, receipts, expenses, and reimbursements, Previous campaigns had been handled by Hall-Long’s husband.
The Lieutenant Governor put the campaign on hold while the audit took place, with one poll suggesting that her lead over fellow Democrat New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer had been cut.
Meyer also issued a campaign Email claimed a poll claiming that “when voters learned why each candidate was in the headlines, Matt polled ahead of his opponent by more than 40 points.” Meyer has been been able to largely stay out of the headlines, a rarity in recent decades in the high profile position.
The audit identified that personal loans the Hall-Long family made for campaign-related expenses were recorded on the reports as expenditures but were not properly labeled.
The campaign is amending reports from 2016 to 2022 to correct categorization errors regarding the personal loans Hall-Long made to the campaign and loan payments. Hall-Long placed several campaign-related expenses, such as television advertising, yard signs, campaign literature and consulting, on personal credit cards as a loan.
While these expenses were recorded as expenditures on the reports, they were not properly labeled as loans.
The loans were partially repaid in the amount of $206,985. Hall-Long has personally loaned the campaign $101,149.35 more than she has been repaid.
The campaign worked with the Department of Elections to amend reports in the campaign finance reporting system.
Hall-Long issued the following statement:
“Throughout this process, I have been committed to ensuring we get a full picture of any issues and make the changes needed, which has now been done. As a nurse, I deal in facts. When a patient presents with a problem, you assess and diagnose, and then you take action. We’ve diagnosed the problem and we have now acted to amend any issues with the reports.
“I regret the confusion and errors in these reports, though it was unintentional. As our campaign grew from the kitchen table around which I started my first legislative race to that of a statewide elected official, we should not have continued to take on the responsibility of managing the finance reporting. I am grateful to the compliance experts and accountants who identified these reporting errors and worked diligently to correct them. Going forward, our campaign reporting will be handled by experts in this field.
“Our campaign is moving forward and laser-focused on making Delaware the best place to live, work, and raise a family. I’m grateful to our supporters and am looking ahead to next year.”
