By Joseph Edelen

DOVER — Nearly 10 months after Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s campaign discovered discrepancies in past finance reports, an independent forensic review called the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s documents “incomplete, inconsistent and often inaccurate.”

The review, commissioned by the state Department of Elections and conducted by retired FBI executive Jeffrey Lampinski of Philadelphia-based Forensic Litigation Consultants, determined that the lieutenant governor and her husband, Dana Long — her former campaign treasurer — had received reimbursements of over $33,100 more than what was personally loaned to her campaign.

“Their substantiated advances to the campaign total $265,914.81. They disbursed themselves $299,093.46. The net amount represents a balance due to the campaign,” Mr. Lampinski wrote in the report, obtained by The Associated Press and WHYY News last week via a Freedom of Information Act request.

The report’s release follows months of questions about Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s gubernatorial campaign and its finances, dating to her first statewide run for lieutenant governor in 2016. Just two weeks after launching her bid for governor in September 2023, she paused fundraising to address “discrepancies” in past reports.

This led to an audit that has not been released to the public, though an overview of amended campaign finance reports was shared.

Following the completion of the internal review in November 2023, Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s campaign said she and her family improperly listed personal loans as expenditures for race-related expenses.

She said that review found no wrongdoing, determining that she loaned $308,000 to her campaign using personal credit cards and lent over $101,000 more than she was repaid.

These questions come as Lt. Gov. Hall-Long is one of three Democratic candidates vying for the office of Delaware’s chief executive. She will be pitted against New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and former Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control secretary Collin O’Mara in the primary Sept. 10.

In a statement Friday after the report was released, the lieutenant governor said she disclosed these discrepancies and has been fully cooperative with the Department of Elections during a “confidential process to amend previous campaign finance reports.”

She noted that, in a letter from state elections commissioner Anthony Albence, he said the discoveries would not be referred to the attorney general’s office and that, contrary to the preliminary forensic report, the Long family has loaned her effort more money than reimbursed and has forgiven the remaining loan balance.

According to The Associated Press, Mr. Albence wrote in the letter that he expected the Hall-Long campaign to “take prompt corrective action” by filing amended campaign finance reports addressing the inconsistencies.

“Voters want a Governor who will champion their problems like funding strong public education, protecting reproductive freedom, increasing access to affordable healthcare, and fighting to improve the quality of life for working families,” Lt. Gov. Hall-Long said in the Friday statement. “If I am elected Governor, I will work tirelessly every single day to do just that.”

In the forensic review, Mr. Lampinski noted five instances when Mr. Long incorrectly divulged campaign checks: four checks to himself that were falsely reported as written to others and one check to former campaign fundraiser Jennifer Mueller that was also misreported.

Mr. Lampinski wrote that he interviewed Mr. Long and questioned him about these incidents but that Mr. Long said he was “unaware a loan reimbursement met the definition of an ‘expenditure’ and thereby was to be reported.”

The release of the forensic review has received pushback from Mr. Meyer, who is also hoping to succeed term-limited Gov. John Carney. The outgoing state leader has endorsed his lieutenant governor.

The county executive held a press conference in Wilmington on Monday, calling for a federal investigation into Lt. Gov. Hall-Long’s campaign finances. There, he stood next to a poster depicting a note written by her and included in the forensic review. It read, “2019/2020 files. Need to create 2021 & 2022 receipts!”

Mr. Meyer did not expand on which federal campaign finance laws were potentially broken and also said his campaign has not yet contacted the U.S. government regarding the issue.

“Delawareans, all of us, deserve to be able to trust our elected officials and know that rules and laws apply to everyone and apply to everyone equally,” he said. “Laws don’t apply to some more than others. That’s why, today, I’m calling for a federal investigation into Ms. Hall-Long’s near-decadelong illegal conduct.”

While Mr. Meyer remains adamant that further investigation is needed, Lt. Gov. Hall-Long is firm that her campaign has not engaged in wrongdoing.

On Sunday night, she appeared on DETV’s “The Agenda With Kerwin Gaines” and said her family has “absolutely not” personally benefited from the fiscal deviations.

Meantime, polls for the Democratic nomination have seen a contrast in recent months. A Public Policy Polling survey conducted in January found that 31% of 661 likely Democratic primary voters favored Lt. Gov. Hall-Long, 19% for Mr. Meyer and 9% for Mr. O’Mara.

A poll from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association released Thursday showed the same tallies for each candidate, and a similar one released in early July by the political action committee Citizens for a New Delaware Way showed Lt. Gov. Hall-Long and Mr. Meyer tied in Democratic support, with 27% each.

That group also announced earlier this month that it planned to spend upwards of $1 million before the Sept. 10 primary to oppose the lieutenant governor’s gubernatorial campaign.

The Hall-Long effort took aim at this announcement following Mr. Meyer’s press conference Monday, tying the committee to TransPerfect founder and president Phil Shawe, who is backing the super PAC. Delaware’s Court of Chancery ordered Mr. Shawe and his estranged wife to sell TransPerfect after a lengthy court battle in 2014.

The campaign described Mr. Shawe as “a bitter billionaire looking to settle old scores against the state of Delaware and Gov. John Carney at all costs.”

Since the release of the forensic review, at least two state lawmakers have called for her to withdraw from the race: Reps. Madinah Wilson-Anton, D-Newark, and Sophie Phillips, D-Bear.

Department of Elections