Campaign finance complaint against Mae Beavers dismissed

The Registry of Election Finance board has unanimously voted to dismiss a complaint that accused former state Sen. Mae Beavers of violating campaign finance laws in the handling of leftover money from her abandoned gubernatorial campaign, reports Tennessee Star. Beavers said the complaint was “politically motivated.”

She had used $122,123 from her gubernatorial campaign to launch a new political action committee, which then donated $7,800 to current campaign for Wilson County mayor – a donation she subsequently refunded after it was initially disclosed.

The complaint against Beavers was filed by Ann Calabria, a member of the Wilson County Election Commission who is publicly supporting incumbent County Mayor Randall Hutto — whom Beavers is seeking to replace in the August 2 general election. Calabria was accompanied at the hearing on June 13, 2018 by Delores Mackey, who is a long-time political adversary of Beavers. Calabria and Mackey arrived together for the hearing in a vehicle sporting large “Hutto for Mayor” signs.

…“This is the kind of slimy politics that has kept Wilson County from moving forward as we should, and my intent to clean up the “tax and spend swamp” at the Courthouse has them slinging mud in a desperate attempt to keep themselves and their cronies in power,” Beavers said in a statement released by her campaign.

“It clearly reflects the lack of leadership in our County and why this election is so critical for our future if we want to break their stranglehold on our wallets,” Beavers added.

Note: Previous post HERE. The Star quotes Beavers as saying the complaint was intended “to generate headlines, which some media like, the Lebanon Democrat, were only happy to provide, despite the complete lack of any evidence of any wrongdoing on my part.” The Lebanon Democrat’s May story on filing of the complaint is HERE.