Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, a Democratic candidate for governor, says campaign finance irregularities found in a forensic review conducted for the Delaware Department of Elections were “inadvertent accounting errors.”
The report found that Hall-Long and her husband had received payments totaling $33,000 more than she allegedly loaned to his campaign.
It also found that Hall-Long’s husband and former campaign treasurer, Dana Long, wrote four campaign checks to himself but falsely reported they had been written to someone else.
In a prepared statement emailed to supporters Saturday, Hall-Long said she had voluntarily disclosed discrepancies with previous campaign finance reports and had been fully cooperating with the Department of Elections to amend those reports.
Hall-Long said her family never benefited from her time in public office and notes that the accounting discrepancies were not referred to the Delaware Attorney General, and the Attorney General agreed.
Hall-Long also says being the front-runner in the race plays a role in the controversy.
“One thing we know about politics is that the front-runner is always a target,” Hall-Long wrote.
A recent Public Policy Polling survey found that 31% of 661 likely Democratic primary voters favored Hall-Long. Only 19% favored New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer. Former DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara got just 9%, but about 40% of respondents were undecided. The poll was conducted July 16-17, with a margin of error of +/- 3.8%.
