Politicians in Georgia, particularly Augusta, routinely flout campaign finance law by padding their donations, hiding donations or not filing documents at all. When caught, the offender pays the fine as a cost of doing business or ignores the matter completely.
Each candidate is given a packet by the Elections Board that clearly outlines the filing process and what is expected, but it seems that more and more candidates toss the packet into the trash along with any hope of transparency.
Currently, three of the four candidates running for House District 129 have been fined for not filing financial disclosures. Two of those candidates, Karlton Howard and Brad Owens, are seasoned in the political process and know better but apparently don’t care.
In the 2020 mayoral race, candidate Lori Myles added into her disclosures a $100,000 contribution that never occurred. Myles, a long shot for the seat, likely wanted to appear like a serious contender, so it didn’t matter that a $100,000 contribution is vastly over the legal limit for a donation, and it didn’t matter to her that she was falsifying a government document.
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It came to light with the tragic suicide of Tyrique Robinson that when he ran for school board, he was allegedly getting cash and in-kind contributions from his political mentor, Melissa Oden, and none of it was reported. While Robinson could have blamed youth and inexperience for the oversight, if the allegations are true, Oden should have known better.
Of course, Augusta’s king of campaign finance shenanigans is outgoing Mayor Hardie Davis Jr., who has been at the center of multiple investigations by the Georgia Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission. Davis has been accused of dark money schemes and fined for failing to file financial paperwork, and he has literally ignored the Commission at every turn. Even in the midst of ongoing investigations, Davis refuses to pay the fine he already owes.
When this kind of information comes to light before an election cycle is complete, it should be a warning to voters of who not to vote for. However, Georgia law needs to be amended to reflect a campaign finance violation as a violation of public trust.
Fines need to be stiffer and the most egregious violations should constitute a forfeiture of the seat.
