NC-03: A few questions for Phil Law

Posted on by


Walter Jones is just a few month into his final term in office.  A lot of names are being bandied about as candidates to replace him in 2020 — 2018 opponent Scott Dacey.  NCGOP vice-chairman Michele Nix, NC Rep. Phil Shepard, NC Rep. Mike Speciale, NC Rep. Greg Murphy and perennial candidate Phil Law.

Law, who finished second in the 2018 primary for the GOP nod in the Third,  sent out a release today indicating he’s getting a jump on that whole crowd.  He plans to announce his 2020 candidacy tonight at the Onslow County GOP meeting in Jacksonville.

Law, clearly a protest vehicle in 2016 and 2018 for folks who didn’t like Scott Dacey or Walter Jones, must think he’s in the driver’s seat for this race.

Since he’s going public, we think it’s important that he clear a few things up for all of us:

Racial Roulette.   Law seems to have a hard time deciding what race group he falls into.  When  he registered to vote in Onslow County in 20o4, he identified himself as “white.”   In  2017,  he registered to vote in Wake County and identified himself as “Asian.”  Here in 2019, Law has re-registered in Onslow County as “two or more”.    It’s not a big deal, but if we can’t get a straight answer on THIS question, what can we expect a straight answer on? 

Where’s Home?  Candidates for US House are not required to live in the districts they represent.   Since 2017, Law and his family have resided in Wake County.  Law even changed his voter registration in 2017 to document and confirm that.   On January 11 of this year, we found that Law moved his voter registration to a Gum Branch Road address in Jacksonville.  What’s curious is that the house at the address on Law’s  voter registration SOLD on January 10 of this year.  Did ol’ Phil buy a house in the district, and then change his voter registration the very next day? (And has he actually moved his wife and kids from Wake County to Onslow County?) 

Giving in the name of another? Laundering?  You make the call.    It’s not unusual to see candidates with complex campaign operations to have big fundraisers and show a bunch of big donations on the same day.  In 2016 and 2018, however, Phil Law ran his campaigns himself on what could be described  as a shoestring budget.

On March 10. 2015,  exactly fifteen donations of exactly $2700 came into Law’s 2016 campaign for Congress.  The donors came from  all over North Carolina, South Carolina, and the United States.  (One of the $2700 donors appears to have been a recent high school graduate — less than a year out of school.)   Three donations of $1000 and one more for $2000 also came in on the same day.  

On March 14, 2015,  two donors from the same Wisconsin town (same last name, different addresses) donated $2700 and $1500 respectively to Law’s campaign.

Campaign finance laws are out there for a reason. Voters and the general public have a right to know WHO exactly is financing their wannabe and actual elected officials.

Are we expected to believe that fifteen people all had the same idea independently– sending exactly $2700 to Phil Law  — all on the same day?  (And what about the high school kid sending $2700 along?  He must have been paid a HECK of an allowance by his parents.)