DOVER, DE - Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long’s gubernatorial campaign has confirmed the departure of two campaign team leaders just over a month ahead of Delaware’s September Primary Election.
In a statement provided to WBOC Thursday, August 1st, Hall-Long’s team said campaign manager Quentin Heilbroner and fundraising director Sydney Diewald would be leaving the campaign at the end of the week.
The news of the resignations come on the heels of an investigation by a retired FBI fraud expert into Hall-Long’s campaign finances. In his report, the investigator says the campaign reimbursed Hall-Long over $33,000 more than what she loaned the campaign.
“In conclusion, I find the Committee’s account of expenditures in its public campaign finance reporting incomplete, inconsistent, and often inaccurate, leading to an unreliable picture of its financial affairs,” that report reads.
Hall-Long has maintained she and her family have loaned the campaign more money than they’ve been reimbursed and has said she will address financial discrepancies “head on.”
The results of the financial audit have spurred some in Delaware to call for Hall-Long to drop out of the gubernatorial race, including former state chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party Erik Raser-Schramm.
“I call upon the Delaware Democratic Party to rescind its endorsement of Hall-Long and hold true to its stated values,” Raser-Schramm said this week. “Donors and voters must know we take this type of conduct seriously.”
Raser-Schramm goes on to endorse Hall-Long’s opponent New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, who has called for a federal investigation into Hall-Long’s campaign finances.
Hall-Long’s campaign says Matt Dougherty, a long-time Delaware Democratic staffer, will assume the role of campaign manager after Heilbroner’s departure. Debra DeLuca will take over fundraising for the campaign.
“Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long is squarely focused on the issues that matter most to Delawareans,” Hall-Long’s campaign said in a statement Thursday. “This campaign is determined to win and elect the first nurse Governor in the nation, and Delaware’s second woman Governor.”
Delaware’s Primary is slated for September 10th.