EXCLUSIVE: Sid Causey Campaign Finance Law Violations

According to Sid Causey's second quarter campaign finance report posted to the New Hanover County Board of Elections website, two contributors - husband and wife Ronald Beasley and Lynn Beasley; both retired, have each contributed over the $4,000 election cycle threshold to Causey's campaign. Both husband and wife made donations in the amount of $50.00, and then each wrote a check for $4,000. Click here for the report.

This is explicitly prohibited by North Carolina law, which states that an individual can only contribute a maximum total of $4,000 in any election cycle.

According to North Carolina General Statute 163-278.13:


(a) No individual, political committee, or other entity shall contribute to any candidate or other political committee any money or make any other contribution in any election in excess of four thousand dollars ($4,000) for that election.


(b) No candidate or political committee shall accept or solicit any contribution from any individual, other political committee, or other entity of any money or any other contribution in any election in excess of four thousand dollars ($4,000) for that election.


(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, it shall be lawful for a candidate or a candidate's spouse, parents, brothers and sisters to make a contribution to the candidate or to the candidate's treasurer of any amount of money or to make any other contribution in any election in excess of four thousand dollars ($4,000) for that election.


(d) For the purposes of this section, the term "an election" means any primary, second primary, or general election in which the candidate or political committee may be involved, without regard to whether the candidate is opposed or unopposed in the election, except that where a candidate is not on the ballot in a second primary, that second primary is not "an election" with respect to that candidate.

[Click here to read entire statute]

Causey's former career as Sheriff of New Hanover County demanded that he know and enforce the law. Abiding by it may prove an entirely different task altogether.

This incident certainly calls into question the motives of a retired couple, perhaps on a fixed income, that would want someone elected to local political office so desperately, that they would sacrifice over $8,000 toward the cause. As pure conjecture, your blogger can't comprehend such a generous contribution out of mere philanthropy and benevolence. Perhaps the bigger impending story is what kind of bang they expect to get for their enormous buck.