Pittman’s rise to Democratic Party chair could be delayed by campaign finances

The presumed frontrunner to lead the Maryland Democratic Party cannot fully assume his duties if elected, and the possibility of an extended delay leaves open the potential the party might have to elect another leader before the end of summer.

Hundreds of Democrats are expected to gather Saturday in Prince George’s County, where the agenda includes election of a state party chair to replace Ken Ulman, who stepped down last week. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman (D), handpicked by Gov. Wes Moore (D), is expected to be the frontrunner.

But a snag involving state campaign finance law, and Pittman’s inability to immediately close the account that funded his contests for county executive, will bar him from fully assuming the role upon his election.

After a meeting late Wednesday between his campaign representatives and state elections officials, Pittman acknowledged the legal hurdle and said he “won’t officially take office until the account is closed out.”

“We’re fully complying with the law that says that you can’t take office as the chair of the party until you’ve closed your account. So I won’t take office until that’s happened,” Pittman said. “The election will move forward because that’s when the meeting is. But I don’t take office until the account is closed.”

To do so, Pittman said he is undergoing a review of the account by state elections officials. But neither the review nor closing the account will happen before the scheduled June 21 vote.

A party spokesperson said in a statement that Pittman told the party “that the standard process in order to close his county executive campaign account is underway and should be complete before the end of June.”

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“If he is elected as chair this Saturday, he will officially assume the role upon completion of the close out of his account in accordance with state law. In this scenario, [Vice Chair] Dr. Charlene Dukes would remain acting chair until the account is closed,” the statement said.

Party bylaws require a new chair to be elected within 60 days of a vacancy, and Ulman’s resignation last week means the party could hold a vote as late as August, giving Pittman time to resolve the campaign discrepancy.

But party officials said they are committed to a vote this week, since the meeting has long been scheduled — the party is required to hold two meetings a year, usually in the summer and fall — and scheduling another meeting in two months could create problems for party leaders who must come from far-flung corners of the state.

Pittman said he expects the state elections board to expedite his efforts to close the account. Should that effort drag in August, however, party leaders would be faced with having to elect someone who could take office immediately.

In the meantime, Pittman said that if elected he will limit his activities to transition work and meeting with staff.

“I won’t even be quoted as party chair,” he said. “I won’t be putting up documents as party chair. Dr. Dukes will be acting chair until I am legally the chair.”

Alive and a Democrat

Dukes, first vice chair since 2023, has been acting chair since Ulman’s resignation took effect June 13of the party. She has said she is not interested in the position. But having an acting chair allows the party to continue to raise and expend funds while the party seeks a permanent leader.

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Pittman, however, faces an additional hurdle stemming from his open campaign account and state law. State Board of Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said the law is meant to prevent candidates from directing funds in ways that skirt state law.

“The intent of this prohibition is so that you cannot circumvent contribution limits,” said DeMarinis, who spoke generally on state law and not specifically on Pittman’s situation.

“If I’m a candidate and I had my personal account, and someone gives me $6,000 but also control … another committee, I can tell that person to also give $6,000 to that committee,” DeMarinis said. “Then I can direct those monies to benefit my campaign and in fact exceed the contribution limits because I was in control over multiple accounts.”

After Ulman announced he was stepping down, Moore immediately nominated Pittman — who is not expected to be the only contender — for the post.

Pittman, who is term-limited as county executive, said he did not discuss his campaign account discrepancy with the governor. It is unclear if Moore’s staff picked up the issue in any vetting process, and a Moore spokesperson did not provide a comment for this story.

 ‘A labor intensive process’

The obvious solution – closing the campaign account — could take weeks, possibly longer. An ongoing problem with recordkeeping has left a discrepancy in his campaign finance filings.

Pittman must resolve a $1,500 difference between his stated bank balance and his reported cash balance. Until that happens — or until the elections board signs off on his unsuccessful efforts to find the problem — Pittman cannot close his account.

Pittman attributed the problem to a discrepancy discovered in previous years. He said his campaign hired an outside firm to identify the problem and assist with amending reports with the state board after the board identified problems in routine audits.

A review of his reports shows that Pittman’s campaign account was balanced in the annual report filed in January 2024. By April, the books were off again by $1,490. Seven months later, a new report showed he had $1,500 more in his bank account than he reported in cash on hand.

Campaign accounts are generally audited by the state every two to three years. All filings — annual and required pre-primary and general election reports — within that period are reviewed. Closing an account would trigger an earlier audit.

Discrepancies, including differences in cash and bank balances or other record issues, would have to be resolved, DeMarinis said.

In general, campaigns can hire someone to do it or turn over all the records to the state board, which would then sift through those records to resolve the problems.

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“It’s a labor-intensive process,” DeMarinis said.

It is also a process that can lead to  civil penalties for failing to accurately report contributions or expenditures. Fines can start as low as $50 for a first offense, but rise for subsequent offenses. Any penalties would also have to be paid before an account closes.

Pittman would also have to legally dispose of the cash balance before closing the account.

In his January filing, Pittman reported $61,775 in his bank account, but cash on hand of $60,275.83 — a gap of $1,499.17. The report, due Jan. 25, was not filed until Feb. 23, according to state records.

DeMarinis said his office is assisting Pittman and the party to resolve the issue.

“We would do this for any political party if they had an issue with selecting a new chair because we know political parties need officers to operate,” he said.

‘They came up with a blank’

In June 2023, a routine audit conducted by the state board identified repeated cash discrepancies and record-keeping issues in Pittman’s account.

Eight letters from the board to Pittman’s campaign and obtained by Maryland Matters identified repeated issues with record keeping and balances. Six letters cover discrepancies in reports for 2022, two others touch on problems in 2021 and 2023 reports.

Pittman said, with campaign managers coming and going, “It’s been a consistent problem … which is why we did a forensic audit to determine whether there was any wrongdoing.”

“That’s as much as I know how to do, is to fully go through everything. And there are times when there is just no receipt that is found, and there is nobody to blame. There is no person who did any wrongdoing,” he said. “So that was the due diligence that we did.”

Pittman said he believed his campaign addressed those earlier concerns.

“We hired the forensic accountant to make sure that there was no wrongdoing that they could identify anywhere in the campaign, and they couldn’t find anything,” Pittman said. “But they also couldn’t find where, what that money had been spent on. Obviously, there were no receipts for those expenditures and so they came up with a blank, which, of course, is frustrating.”

Pittman said he thought after the forensic review the matter was closed. A review of his campaign filings appears to show the current discrepancies are unrelated to those earlier issues.

Pittman, who acknowledged the account discrepancies that have dogged his campaign of late, said party officials who are electing a new chair should not be concerned that those issues will carry over to party accounts.

“If your question is whether I am a fiscally responsible leader who will make sure that the people who work under me are managing their dollars, I think you can look at the AAA bond rating that Anne Arundel County got for the first time under my leadership, and you can say that I have been a fiscally responsible leader as county executive,” Pittman said.

“I think the party has a history of managing their finances in a responsible way. I think the treasurer of the party is somebody who has been doing that work for quite some time and is very responsible. I think the staff does as well,” he said. “So, I think the party is in good hands, and it would be in good hands under me in terms of managing his finances.”

An expedited process?

Pittman said he will turn over his campaign records to the board for review in what he described as a routine audit. Coupled with that review is an effort by the board to resolve the discrepancies in Pittman’s account.

“But based on what I’ve heard from the meeting that they had today [Wednesday], and the meetings they’ve been having, is that it’s going to take some time to go through it — go through the process,” Pittman said. “They’re going to do it more carefully because questions have been asked and they’re going to expedite what would normally be a 30-day audit. Based on that, I’m confident that we’ll be able to close the account.”

DeMarinis declined to comment on a specific timeline.

“We know that political parties need to operate for elections, and we understand their concerns,” he said. “But we will never change our business practices or procedures to compromise the end result.”