Beaufort County Republicans Try to Un-Ring the Finance Bell | Eastern NC Now

Beaufort County Republicans Try to Un-Ring the Finance Bell

BY:  HOOD RICHARDSON

A complaint has been lodged against the Beaufort County Republican Party alleging violations of the Campaign Finance Laws. The laws came into being because of the public outcry about the abusive use of funds in election campaigns. Money in both large and small amounts was being used to sway public opinion. The sources of funds were not always disclosed. There were a lot of false statements being made. One, many times, never knew what the motives of those who placed the ads were. The names of sponsors of advertisements were sometimes invented to deceive the public. There was plenty of money for nefarious uses in the political system.

During the mid 1990’s North Carolina along with other states and the Federal Government passed laws that are best characterized as requiring “the disclosure of truth in political advertising”. These laws required the filing of information identifying “where the money came from”, what was purchased” and “who benefitted”. Limits were put on how much individuals could contribute to any single campaign. However, politicians provided big donation loopholes, sometimes without limit, to organizations such as corporations, labor unions, political action committees and just about anything that was not a person. However, all had to file in a timely manner, and the filing became public information.

The laws and filing rules are rigorous, requiring all donations, whether money or materials, or anything that benefits a candidate or issue to be listed along with the donor and value. The filing deadlines are scheduled as much as one year in advance. Treasurers of campaigns and political action committees have to be identified and receive training as to the law. Bank accounts are required. Donors who independently support candidates without going through a candidate campaign committee or a PAC are required to file reports. The reporting system provides only one loophole, and it is a big one. Entities or individuals who have a lot of money may donate to a PAC which can then spend a lot of their money for campaigns. However, that PAC must disclose in a report how they spent the money.

For the most part the integrity of enforcement of the reporting system is dependent on the management by the State and County Boards of Elections along with citizen reports of violations. In general, serious violations of the law are found and reported by individuals. Candidates take hard looks at their opponent’s campaign reports.

There is plenty of opportunity for violations of the law. Some of the most common are: An individual can only give $50.00 dollars in cash to a candidate each day. One cannot hand over $200.00 in cash and say that is for four days. It is $50.00 in one day. Only personal checks may be used, no corporate checks. Name and address must be provided for every donation. Buying a bar-be-que plate at a fund raiser is considered a donation and must be reported individually with a name and an address. Giving money to others to donate in their name is a violation of the law. The maximum donation an individual may make to individual candidates prior to primary and general elections is $6,800 in calendar years 2025 and 2026. There are criminal penalties if violations cannot be reconciled (General Statute 163-78.13). The complete campaign finance manual may be accessed on the North Carolina state Board of Elections website.

The apparent violations by the Beaufort County Republican Party may include those listed above. They also include failures to file by deadline dates, some really bad account practices such as having negative balances, co-mingling accounts, not reporting all donations, not reporting all expenditures, etc. There is a 2,400-dollar donation from Representative Kidwell’s campaign account that apparently has not been located in Kidwell’s filings, but is included in the Beaufort County GOP campaign filings.

Queen Garris, Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party set up a Victory Committee without the approval of the then sitting Executive Committee. Not all members of the Victory Committee have been identified. Some of the known members are Ashley Woolard, Keith Kidwell, Paul Varco, Carolyn Garris, Consultant Greg Dority and Steve Rader. The Victory Committee and their consorts participated in campaigns against conservative Republicans and nonpartisan elections. They spent and apparently raised money without the approval of the Executive Committee. There are issues about credit cards.

One of the checks and balances is the requirement of an audit committee. However, this has been an inside job with Chairman Garris appointing the committee each year without the consent and approval of the Executive Committee. Consequently, the Executive Committee is window dressing without clout. The 2026 State Convention has changed the rules to require that the Chairman present all committee chairs to the Executive Committee for approval. This helps eliminate the influence of Queen Garris as dictator.

Financial supporters of the Beaufort County Republican Party should be concerned about how their money has been used. Did it really support the conservative Republican Party in Beaufort County, or did it serve to keep RINOs in office? We know two Republicans joined with the two Democrats on the County Commission to raise taxes and keep spending high. We also know that some Republican Party money went to defeat Republicans in the recent municipal elections guaranteeing the election of Democrats. We know that Queen Garris and the Victory Committee have been subverting the wishes of the conservative Executive Committee. We know corrupt practices have been going on in other places in the state. That is why the 2026 State Convention has made changes in the rules. We also know that Republicans of strong character represent the wishes of the majority and not the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).