Lancaster Struggles with Campaign Finance Disclosures

BY RENSS GREENE rgreene@loudounnow.com

Elizabeth Lancaster, a Democratic primary candidate for Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney, has filed legally required campaign fundraising disclosures more than a month late, and with information missing from every donor listing.

The deadline to file that disclosure, which lists all campaign donors who gave more than $100 and covers fundraising from Jan. 18 to March 31, was April 17. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, Lancaster filed that disclosure on Friday, June 3.

The filing also came as early voting in the primary, which began May 5, is already well underway. The next deadline to file is a week away, on Monday, June 12. That filing will cover fundraising from April 1- June 8.

Lancaster’s filing shows $4,735 in fundraising and no campaign spending. Only three of Lancaster’s 10 donors giving more than $100 are in Loudoun: Leesburg attorneys Sarah Bruns and Wayne Kim, and Loudoun County Supervisor Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg), who all gave $250. Other donors listed addresses in Springfield, Reston, Clifton, Herndon, Great Falls and Alexandria, with the largest donation coming from Karew Weber—likely a mistranscription of Karen Weber—of Vienna, who gave $1,000. Lancaster reported no campaign expenses during the period.

Every one of Lancaster’s donors is noted to have incomplete contact information, possibly because none of those listings include information about their employment.

In the same time period, Lancaster’s primary target, incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, reported $108,762 in contributions from 64 donors, and $145,432 in campaign spending. Her largest donor was Hasan Biberaj, of New York, NY, of Morgan Barrington Real Estate, who gave $25,000 in that period, for a total of $50,000 to date. He was followed by Bob two-year terms as the School Board begins staggered elections for their four-year terms.

Biberaj of Manassas and A Advantage HVAC, and Edna Felix of New York and real estate management firm One Fifty Fifty Seven Corp, who both gave $5,000. The legal consequences for failing to file those disclosures are light. Late filing is a civil penalty with a fine of up to $100—the minimum donation that requires a named disclosure. If the late filing is found to be a willful violation, it becomes a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. The late filing considered willful if the failure to file continues for more than 60 days after actually receiving a written notice through certified mail.

Lancaster did not respond to a request from Loudoun Now for comment on the missing disclosure left Thursday—one day before the report was filed. Umstattd, who endorsed Lancaster at the launch of her campaign, said she is not worried by the late filing.

“She [Lancaster] indicated she was just overwhelmed with law cases and she’s a single mom, so I can understand how things can slip through the cracks,” Umstattd said.

There are 66 candidates running for office in Loudoun so far this year, according to records provided by the Loudoun Office of Elections and Voter Registration, although some of those candidates still need to finish their paperwork. Four of those candidates will also likely drop out when they lose their party primary race.

There is still time for more candidates to jump into the November race. June 20 at 7 p.m. is also the deadline to file as a candidate for the November local elections, and for political parties to nominate a candidate. Candidates for the House of Delegates and state Senate have an extra week, until June 26, to file.

Learn more about voting in Loudoun at loudoun.gov/vote. n

“Of course, it’s always concerning when there’s a problem with paperwork, but what really concerns me is Buta’s inability to hold on to competent staff, her letting a murderer go, her letting a rapist go—those things concern me because they impact the entire community,” Umstattd said.

Biberaj has hammered Lancaster on campaign finance as weeks passed with no filing. Last week, her campaign launched a website, whatislancasterhididing.com, questioning “What donations is Lancaster hiding from voters by refusing to file her campaign finance report?” Virginia’s campaign finance laws are particularly lax. Candidates are allowed to spend campaign funds on personal use—something banned at the federal level and in most other states—and bills to tighten the laws around campaign money have been defeated in the General Assembly year after year. Current law only prohibits converting that money to personal use when a campaign committee is dissolved. Typically, candidates keep their campaign committee open throughout their term in office, creating a rolling bank account.

Find campaign finance disclosures at elections.virginia.gov. n