Three legislators did not report more than $10,000 in donations.
According to a survey of Mecklenburg County lawmakers by The Charlotte Observer, Huntersville Democratic Rep. Drew Saunders' reports did not include $15,250 in donations that political action committees reported giving him.
Rep. Beverly Earle, a Charlotte Democrat running for mayor, did not report $10,700.
Sen. Bill Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat, did not report $10,000. He was one of a handful of legislators from other parts of the state included in the survey as part of random sample.
The missing money could be simply bookkeeping errors. But Bob Hall, research director for the nonpartisan Democracy North Carolina, said there were "too many examples" to dismiss them as simply carelessness.
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Re: Campaign discrepancies found
I am a card carrying member of the vast right wing conspiracy. I am sure Anglico can see the imaginary puppet strings attached to my arms and legs with Art Pope at the other end.
But as many of us have seen over the years, when one party is in control for too long, a sense of invulnerability overcomes some, and majority legislators believe they can play in mud and not get dirty.
As "ethics" continues to becomes a hotter issue in Raleigh, I am sure we will see more Republicans get into trouble. But like we saw with Almond, unlike what we are seeing with MacAlister, Wright and Jim Black, I hope the GOP caucus leaders continue to react quickly and decisively. It is the only way to maintain some level of citizen confidence in their elected representatives.
The Democrat caucus leadership is entirely too tolerant of bad behavior. Nobody is buying the "I did nothing wrong" response, only to find out months later that they are up to their armpits in malfeasance.
The entire General Assembly membership is stained by this disregard of the citizens' trust and the Democrat leadership's continued providing "cover" for their membership's breach of trust.
A majority party change is the cleansing we need in 2008.