Hall-Long’s Delaware gubernatorial primary foes say new report exposes corruption

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Delaware Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long has contradicted a new state Department of Elections report that found she and her husband were paid $33,000 more than they reportedly loaned her campaigns; however, her two opponents in the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Friday said that the report shows she’s corrupt and unfit for state government’s highest office.

The report and related documents that were released late Thursday — including copies of canceled checks — concluded that Hall-Long’s political campaigns repeatedly violated state law from 2016 to 2023 by not disclosing nearly $298,000 in payments to her husband Dana, who had been her campaign treasurer, or reporting $266,000 in loans to the campaign.

Hall-Long is embroiled in a three-way primary race with New Castle County executive Matt Meyer and former state environmental chief Collin O’Mara. The election is Sept. 10 — less than seven weeks away.

Despite the harsh report, state elections commissioner Anthony Albence, whose office had hired former Philadelphia FBI chief Jeffrey Lampinski to investigate the matter, told Hall-Long in writing that he was not referring the findings to Attorney General Kathy Jennings for possible criminal prosecution. Jennings said she concurred and pledged to work toward strengthening election laws so that similar issues don’t arise in the future.

Jennings issued a written statement that said if charges were brought, a defense attorney “could credibly attribute the committee’s errors to carelessness. We cannot pursue charges where the law does not provide the standards to do so; but neither should we abide a precedent that flouts the spirit of the law when committees demonstrate negligence.”

Hall-Long received the report last week and had urged Albence in writing not to release the investigatory files, arguing they were not public documents, “until such time as we can discuss our concerns with you.” Albence responded in an email that he did “not intend to publicly post or release” the report unless a public records request was made.

WHYY News made a Freedom of Information Act request last Tuesday for the files upon learning that the report had been completed after a six-month investigation, and Albence’s office released it late Thursday afternoon, nine days later. Sources have said Jennings had prodded Albence to make the report public.

Albence had not responded to requests for interviews about Hall-Long’s campaign finances since issues arose publicly last fall following a revolt within her campaign over more than $200,000 in unreported payments to Dana Long. Albence similarly has not made any comment since the report’s release.

Hall-Long would not agree to an interview about the report, but continued her practice of releasing written statements about the controversy, as she has over the last nine months.

The statement Hall-Long released late Thursday night reiterated that she “voluntarily disclosed discrepancies with previous campaign finance reports” in the fall and since then has cooperated with Albence’s office “on a confidential process to amend previous campaign finance reports.”

Hall-Long’s statement added that she will always “address any bookkeeping discrepancies head on” and noted that “none of this will be referred to the attorney general.”

In November, Hall-Long amended seven years of campaign reports to disclose $308,000 in loans and $207,000 in repayments to herself — not her husband. Her 2023 report, filed in January, forgave what the campaign said was an unpaid loan balance of more than $100,000.

She added that “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 said that based on the bank records, finance reports and documents provided by Dana Long and the campaign, “I cannot account for the difference in their public reporting and my findings.”

Hall-Long’s categorization of Lampinski’s report as “preliminary” stands in contrast, however, to what Albence informed her Tuesday about the 16-page document.

“Please be advised that the report, dated and issued to me on July 13, 2024, by Mr. Lampinski, is his final report, not a draft. … this final version of the report is not subject to change,” Albence wrote in an email, adding that her attorney could feel free to respond to him.

In light of Lampinski’s findings, Albence also directed Hall-Long to further amend her reports to “to ensure all committee transactions … are accurately and fully reported.”