Durham County Commissioner Brenda Howerton said today her re-election campaign has not collaborated with a super PAC backed by Southern Durham Development.
Elections Director Michael Perry forwarded about eight complaints to the State Board of Elections this week claiming county commissioner candidates Rickey Padgett and incumbents Joe Bowser and Howerton illegally coordinated with the The Durham Partnership for Progress. The complaints allege Padgett and representatives of Bowser and Howerton distributed the Super PAC’s fliers at early-voting sites over the weekend.
On Monday, Bowser, Padgett and Southern Durham Development, the would-be builders of the 751 South mixed-use project in southwest Durham County, denied any collaboration. Efforts to reach Howerton that day were unsuccessful.
Perry, who said forwarding such complaints is standard procedure, indicated in an email that he spoke with a Howerton supporter on Saturday who was passing out the super PAC literature.
“My opinion was that if he was here specifically to support Brenda with literature from the PAC there did appear to be some degree of coordination,” Perry wrote in an email.
Howerton said Tuesday that the person who was handing out the Super PAC fliers may have supported her but was not officially working for her or her campaign.
Comments
Coincidence?
Tue, 05/01/2012 - 19:35 — right_backAnd I assume that it's just coincidence that within a half hour of Michael Perry witnessing the campaign violation at the Board of Elections that Brenda Howerton's people stopped handing out Super PAC materials at other voting sites?