Campaign finance reporting issues pop up in mayoral race at final pre-election deadline

Despite announcing she was starting to run TV and radio ads on Oct. 7, Richmond mayoral candidate Michelle Mosby’s latest campaign finance report published this week indicated her campaign spent $0 during the peak political month of October.

On Tuesday, Mosby told The Richmonder there was a technical issue with her report and it would “absolutely” be corrected.

“It was a glitch in hitting the button,” Mosby said, adding that nothing was deliberately left off the report she filed electronically. The information was already there, she said, but didn’t go through to the Virginia Department of Elections. The campaign filed an amended form on Tuesday that will be available Wednesday.

Reports covering mayoral fundraising between Oct. 1 and Oct 24 were due Monday night at 11:59 p.m.

Mayoral candidate Andreas Addison, a city councilor representing the 1st District, also had a filing issue that delayed publication of his report on the state elections website. Addison’s campaign said its report was only filed a few minutes late, but it had not shown up online as of early Tuesday afternoon.

The problems with mayoral candidates’ paperwork come amid heightened scrutiny of the campaign finance reporting process after allegations that City Council candidate Tavares Floyd listed several donations on his reports that the purported donors say never happened.

They also occurred in the final week of a five-person mayoral race where the candidates are talking up the need for better financial recordkeeping, attention to detail and transparency at City Hall.

Dr. Danny Avula, a longtime public health official who led Virginia’s vaccination effort during the COVID-19 pandemic, and investor turned nonprofit leader Harrison Roday continued to lead in fundraising for October.

Roday reported receiving roughly $376,000 for the period, a total boosted by a $100,000 contribution from his mother, retired attorney Lisa Roday, and more than $159,000 in in-kind campaign assistance, much of it coming from the progressive activist group New Virginia Majority.

Avula reported taking in about $250,000, with all but about $20,000 coming as direct cash contributions. Labor groups were his two biggest donors for the period. The Mid-Atlantic Laborers Political Education Fund gave Avula $50,000, while the Greater PA Carpenters PAC gave $20,000.

Avula had a little more than $206,000 on hand at the end of the period. Roday had about $86,500.

Community organizer Maurice Neblett reported raising about $600 for the period and having $1,733 on hand.

The full reported figures for Mosby and Addison remained unclear as of Tuesday afternoon due to their filing issues.

Addison’s campaign said it took in a little more than $37,600 and ended the period with a balance of $10,311.

The report Mosby filed said she received $25,464 and had $104,946 on hand, but the latter figure appeared inaccurate due to the lack of expenses that would reduce her total cash. The $104,946 figure represents the $79,482 Mosby reported having at the end of the last fundraising period plus the $25,464 she just took in.

When asked for clarity on what the amended numbers would show, Mosby's campaign provided information showing she spent $88,849 for the period, dropping her cash on hand to $22,097.

The amended figures for Mosby also showed $31,464 in contributions for the period, a $6,000 increase from the original number on her report.

Andrea Gaines, a spokeswoman for the state elections department, confirmed that Mosby filed an amended report Tuesday but said it would not be available on the agency’s website until Wednesday. Asked what caused the issue with Mosby’s report, Gaines said “it appears as though the committee prepared the report before entering the expenses.”

“So, when they submitted the report, it didn't contain any expenses,” she said.

Campaign finance reports are filed electronically through an online system called COMET.

The reports due Monday night were the last regular fundraising disclosures the candidates will file before next Tuesday’s election.