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Democracy NC Researches Sheriffs’ Missing Campaign Finance Data

On August 20, 2019, Democracy North Carolina sent a letter to the N.C. State Board of Elections regarding campaign finance data missing from nine 2018 sheriff candidates who crossed the state’s reporting threshold.

While not a formal complaint, the voting rights group is seeking missing campaign data from 2018 sheriff’s candidates — both Republican and Democrat — who showed “a cumulative total of more than $10,000 in contributions, loans, or expenditures during an election cycle,” requiring them “to file electronically.”

The letter from Democracy North Carolina’s Executive Director Tomas Lopez and Senior Researcher Sunny Frothingham addressed to State Board Director Karen Brinson Bell, urges the State Board of Elections “to promptly review its files for any missing reports, contact the candidate committees as needed to access missing reports, make them available to the public, and assign any penalties as appropriate.”

8.20.19 Letter to the NCSBE Re: Missing Sheriff's Campaign Data

Read the full letter.

As part of that research, Democracy North Carolina identified the following candidates, all of whom crossed the $10,000 electronic reporting threshold in 2018, who have missing reports on the State Board’s website, as of August 2019:

  • The Johnson for Sheriff Election Committee, for Sheriff Terry S. Johnson (R – Alamance County), is missing Q3 of the 2018 cycle.
    • In the 2018 QI report, the committee reported receiving $48,081, and spending $14,635, placing the committee well over the threshold for electronic filing.
    • Comparisons of the Q2 and Q4 report suggest that the committee did have at least $6,000 worth of expenditures during the missing Q3 period.
  • The Committee to Elect Steve Whisenant for Sheriff, for Sheriff Steve Whisenant (D – Burke County), is missing QI, Q2, and Q4 of the 2018 cycle. Additionally, the committee is missing a Mid Year Semi-Annual report, which was due for covered candidates in July 2019.
    • The Q3 report, the only available committee document, shows $30,070 in contributions during that period, as well as total contributions for the whole election cycle of $124,316 by the end of Quarter 3.
    • The Q3 report also lists $16,211 in total expenditures for that period, and $66,671 for the whole election cycle up to that point. o This suggests at least $94,200 in contributions were made prior to the only report available, as well as around $50,000 in expenditures.
  • The Committee to Keep Tony Durden Sheriff, for Sheriff Tony Durden Jr. (D – Caswell County), only has one document available, the Q4 Report, but that report suggests earlier reports should have been filed. Additionally, the committee is missing a Mid Year Semi-Annual report, which was due for covered candidates in July 2019.
    • The Q4 report, the only available committee document, lists $15,302 in total expenditures over the course of the Election, but$0.00 in spending in Q4. This suggests that the committee spent over electronic filing the threshold prior to Q4, but these expenditures are not available on the state website.
    • The report also indicates that over $10,000 in contributions were received by the committee sometime prior to Q4 that are not publicly available to view at this time.
  • The Committee to Elect Kent Winstead for Sheriff 2018, for Sheriff Kent Winstead (D – Franklin County), is missing the Q2 disclosure report. 5 o The Ql report documents $14,766 in total expenditures, which places the campaign well over the electronic filing threshold, meaning that the committee should have filed regular reports.
    • Comparisons of the Ql and Q3 reports available suggest that the campaign received over$2,000, and spent over $7,000 in the Q2 period- documentation of which is not currently publicly available.
  • The Campaign Fund for Jerry W. Jones, for 2018 sheriff candidate Jerry W. Jones (R – Franklin County), only has one committee document available, Ql.
    • The Ql report shows that the campaign received $13,090 and spent $11,792 in that period, which placed the committee over the electronic filing threshold to file regular reports.
  • The Committee to Elect Lowell Griffin, for Sheriff Lowell Stewart Griffin (R – Henderson County), is missing the Ql disclosure report.
    • The Q2 disclosure report shows $41,888 in total contributions, but only $5,450 contributions in that period, meaning that $36,438 in contributions are unaccounted for. Additionally, the report shows $41,884 total expenditures, but only $15,148 expenditures in that period, meaning that $26,376 in expenditures are unaccounted for.
  • The Bizzell for Sheriff Committee, for Sheriff Roger Steve Bizzell (R – Johnston County), does not have a Ql or a Q2 report.
    • The Q3 report shows $34,918 in total receipts, but only $25 received in that period. It also shows $50,463 in expenditures, but only $1,589 spent in that period, meaning that large sums of contributions and expenditures that should have been electronically filed are unavailable to the public.
  • The Tracy Carter for Sheriff Committee, for Sheriff Tracy Lynn Carter (R – Lee County), only has one quarterly disclosure report, Q4.
    • The Q4 report shows $32,122 in total receipts, but only $1,450 received in that period. It also shows $28,739 in expenditures, but only $5,127 spent in that period, meaning that large sums of contributions and expenditures that should have been electronically filed are unavailable to the public.
  • The Committee to Re-elect Sheriff Hans Miller, for Sheriff Hans Miller (R – Onslow County), is missing a Q4 report. It is important to note that the committee is currently inactive, which could mean that they were not required to file the Q4 report – depending on when the committee filed inactive status – which is not clear online.
    • The Q3 report shows $15,382 in total contributions as well as $14,338 in total expenditures, placing the committee over the electronic filing threshold.

The letter concludes by acknowledging the many reasons why the data might be missing. “We recognize there are a range of potential explanations for why this data is unavailable. Whatever the cause, this information’s absence prevents the public from fully understanding who has funded key office-holders in several North Carolina counties.”