A complaint filed by the left-leaning group Democracy NC alleges Republican Senator Ralph Hise of Spruce Pine broke campaign disclosure laws. Among the complaints are that Hise pocketed around $10,000 from his campaign, failed to disclose PAC contributions and didn't properly disclose information about his donors. Hise has yet to respond to a request from BPR for comment.
Bob Hall, Executive Director for Democracy NC says that in addition to the initial complaints, Hise has yet to provide required documentation to the State Board of Elections, despite being given 45 extra days to respond.
"It's probably going to be necessary for the State Board to subpoena the records of his campaign... because the bookkeeping that's reflected in his campaign reports is so shoddy, it really can't be relied upon."
The group is also calling on Hise to step aside from any efforts to influence the membership of the board. A bill passed by the Republican-dominated legislature to merge the state elections and ethics board is on hold pending litigation filed by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Hise is Chairman of the Senate Elections Committee.
Democracy NC began looking into Hise's campaign finance reports after discrepancies were alleged by Raleigh resident Greg Flynn. Hall called Hise's reports "the worst among all the current legislators."
