For a period of several hours, the North Carolina Democrats Party’s home website went down during the middle of Senator Kay Hagan’s crucial reelection bid in North Carolina. This comes on the heels of a rocky pre-general campaign for the NCDP following several scandals involving party leadership and money.
In late February, a scandal erupted when State Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller appeared on a local talk show accusing the State Executive Committee on being “latent racism” for refusing to allow his appointment of former NCAAP President Benjamin Chavis to the position of Executive Director. Vollerl only made things worse for the party two weeks later.
During the Executive Council meeting, Voller announced that the party was “broke,” and almost “$60,000 in debt,” according to a report by WRAL. The report goes on say that they party “discussed getting rid of the Goodwin House,” a historical meeting place for North Carolina Democrats for over one hundred years. The Communications Director Marjorie Field Harris later confirmed both statements to WRAL. Sources also confirmed that this was not the first time the possibility of selling the house had come under discussion.
With the shuttering of the website for a few hours, The Daily Caller reached out to the NCDP for comment on the possible financial concerns plaguing the party during an election year. Executive Director Casey Mann hit back. “The sale of the Goodwin House was never under consideration,” Mann stated. “It was in need of repairs.”
He also hit back at commentators and in contrast to older statements and official documents from Open Secrets saying the North Carolina Democrat Party is $29,818 in debt. “We have 14 accounts,” she said. Mann also talked about the Republican wave in North Carolina claiming, “we’re probably suffering from institutional disadvantage.”
When asked specifically asked the website, Mann claimed it was simply IT problems citing the fact that the site has been registered since 1996 and has to be updated every two years. He also claimed there was no bidding war.
