#ncga: Harnett’s David Lewis moves his campaign ops to Raleigh
According to campaign finance documents, it apparently happened during the second quarter of 2018. (June 29, to be exact.)
As late as the first quarter of 2018, state Rep. David Lewis’s campaign finances were handled by TRP CPAs of Dunn, North Carolina — which is IN Lewis’s legislative district.
But, on June 29th, an interesting change was made. Amy Ellis, a Raleigh-based campaign finance guru who handles the finances of a lot of GOP bigwigs on Jones Street, took over Lewis’s campaign finances. Also listed as a treasurer and custodian of books is someone named Jake Anthony, who has a davidlewis.org email address and a Raleigh PO Box for a postal mail address. Raleigh, as you know, is in Wake County. Lewis does not represent Wake County.
We found someone on Twitter named Jake Anthony who claims to be a “NCGA staffer.” But we could find no entry for him in the most current edition of the legislature’s phone directory.
Why the move from legitimate money managers inside his district? Lewis has received some negative publicity for his campaign finance record-keeping. And he’s got at least ONE ethics complaint still floating around out there related to campaign finance and helpful legislation for certain donors.
This is not the first time we’ve come across a legislator setting up his campaign shop outside of his district. Senator Jerry Tillman set up a Raleigh condo as his “campaign headquarters” — despite having no opponents and the “office” being 70-80 miles outside of his district.
Just because you CAN do something, or it HAS BEEN done, doesn’t mean you SHOULD do it.
You answered your own question by stating his campaign made reporting errors. That is exactly why you get a new tresurer
Yes well, there’s a lot of strange and unexplained Fiscal actions going on under the ncgop’s roof too. Meanwhile, a nascent termite infestation is already threatening to bring down your house in the long run, as termite infestations will do. Four weeks ago, the NC Constitution Party had 155 members a month later, they’ve grown 80% and are nearly double that. At some point, they’re going to hit critical mass and warp the political scene in NC to the ncgop’s detriment, and all because of your unforced errors.
Seriously? YOU, of all people, are questioning someone else’s competence? Big Dave’s previous trouble came from not being honest about who was giving him money, among other things. Things that an honest non-hack CPA would not have known. Moving away from a respected CPA in his district to two political hacks outside his district says one of two things. Either he is planning a run for higher office or he is trying to do damage control on his money shenanigans.
I am not questioning anybody. I don’t know who he was using. I do know his new person and she is very good.
I was simple trying to respectfully answer the question posed.
As to the Constitution party, I supported the efforts to expand ballot access because I think it is fair and makes us a better party.
I think it is a fair question to ask if it is fair for one opponent to have to defeat a person twice in the same election. Once as a GOP member, once as a constitutional party member.
But the Constitutional party won their lawsuit and good for them.
This issue won’t come up again because both parties will have primaries in the future.
I could even see someday allowing Constitutional party members to vote in the GOP primary as we do unaffiliated voters.
I won’t deny that allowing NCCP members a chance to participate in the NCGOP primary is a smart way to take the wind out of their sails, but Lewis and his colleagues don’t have a good track record of doing things smart, of late. But we’ll see.