After three days investigating the campaign-finance activities of State House Speaker Jim Black and the state’s optometrists, the State Board of Elections will now turn its attention to the contributions of the state’s video poker industry.
[For Background: Who’s Who at the Board of Elections Hearings]
The board decided Friday to ask the Wake County District Attorney to investigate the campaign finance activity of optometrist Michael Scott Edwards and former state Rep. Michael Decker, whose 2003 change of parties helped Black become Co-Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
But it took no action on Black, who testified that he later helped Decker raise money not because of the party switch but because Decker was now part of his leadership team. Decker switched political parties from Republican to Democrat to help Black become co-speaker, but Black testified, “I never gave Michael Decker anything to change parties.”
The motion to make a criminal referral was made by chairman Larry Leake and unanimously approved after three days of testimony about possible campaign finance violations. Leake said the board would address contributions from the video poker industry at its next meeting, which has not yet been scheduled.
Michael Scott Edwards handled all the money for the N. C. State Optometric Society’s political action committee. Several optometrists testified that they delivered signed checks to Edwards with the payee line left blank. Some of those checks ended up deposited with the political action committee while others were made out to the campaigns of individual lawmakers. Decker apparently converted some of the checks for personal use.
Both Decker and Edwards chose not to testify citing their Fifth Amendment rights.
Kim Strach, Deputy Director for Campaign Finance at the State Board of Elections, initiated the investigation in response to a formal complaint from the watchdog organization Democracy North Carolina. She testified that she believed Michael Decker, optometrist Michael Scott Edwards, and Jim Black’s political committee had violated campaign finance laws.
The specific violations include exceeding the maximum contributions in an election cycle, making contributions in the name of another, failure to disclose money received, and accepting contributions from businesses.
The board took no action on Speaker Black or his campaign. Chairman Leake said the board would address contributions from the video poker industry at the next meeting which has not yet been scheduled.
Don Carrington is executive editor of Carolina Journal.