Democratic Party ups the ante in feud with Sen. Greg Lavelle

The Delaware Democratic Party escalated its feud with state Sen. Greg Lavelle on Thursday by accusing the prominent Republican lawmaker of violating state ethics rules.

"Senator Lavelle's pattern of illegal behavior mirrors the reckless, partisan conduct we see regularly from President Trump and his allies, and it paints a damning picture," state party chair Erik Raser-Schramm said in a release.

Lavelle fired back, noting the party's comments come just days one of its lawmakers landed a $95,000-a-year state job never listed as being open and a Democratic candidate was caught on camera taking her opponent's campaign literature from a voter's home.

"It is no surprise that the Democrats are working to change the topic while ignoring the facts and the law," he said. "I won't be silenced or intimidated and will continue to expose corruption when I see it."

This is the latest salvo in a long-running political battle that just last week resulted in an exchange of official wrongdoing complaints.

Democrats on Oct. 15 filed a protest with the state election department claiming Lavelle and state Treasurer Ken Simpler illegally coordinated with political action committees in their respective re-election bids. The state election commissioner is still considering that complaint.

Lavelle, R-Sharpley, responded on Oct. 19 by filing an ethics complaint with the Delaware Public Integrity Commission accusing a state regulator and an attorney of the companies she regulates – both appointees of Democratic Gov. John Carney – of funneling money through a series of PACs to help unseat a Democratic state legislator.

The Democratic Party is now returning fire by alleging it was Lavelle who violated state ethics rules when he disclosed his DPIC complaint to The News Journal and discussed the matter publicly.

Lavelle said those confidentiality rules only apply once there has been a formal charge and related proceedings. The DPIC will not have an opportunity to consider Lavelle's complaint until its Nov. 20 meeting.

Deborah Moreau, the commission's legal counsel, said state law bars anyone from revealing details about any ethics complaint "that is filed or intended to be filed" with the agency. Violations can be punished by up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Those rules are rarely enforced, however. Moreau said she could not remember a single complaint being lodged about someone violating those confidentiality rules during her six years at the commission – or an instance of someone divulging such information.

The state Democrat Party has no plans to break that streak, said Executive Director Jesse Chadderdon.

"We don't plan to file anything because we're not a party to his complaint," he said. "Our concern is how this reflects on what kind of senator he is."

Lavelle long has been a thorn in the side of Democratic lawmakers, notably having played a lead role in resisting a proposed income tax hike in 2016. His position as Senate minority whip has made him a target for Democrats who now hold a one-vote majority in the Legislature's upper chamber.

His race against teacher Laura Sturgeon, a political newcomer, also has been rife with sniping, ranging from questions about how long she has lived in the district to attacks against Lavelle for errors in a newsletter he penned on the state's unemployment rate.

In keeping with the secrecy surrounding the DPIC, Moreau declined to say whether any formal complaint has been filed against Lavelle. She also refused to acknowledge Lavelle's initial complaint against State Escheator Brenda Mayrack last week.

In that complaint, Lavelle claims Mayrack created an appearance of impropriety when two PACs she controls accepted donations from her former colleague Mike Houghton.

Those donations were then moved to a third PAC under Mayrack's control, where they were spent on ads in the First District Democratic Primary that ousted state Rep. Charles Potter, D-Wilmington.

Mayrack is the state's top regulator of unclaimed property, while Houghton is an attorney who represents the companies required to turn over that property to the state. Lavelle argues their collusion on political activity could be viewed as a relationship that might bleed over into decisions Mayrack will make about money owed by Houghton's clients.

The fight over allegations of ethical misconduct raises longstanding issues surrounding how Delaware polices officials for wrongdoing.

The public, for instance, will not be privy to its deliberations on Lavelle's complaint and its meetings are closed to the public. Its findings are typically disclosed to the parties involved but are not automatically made publicly available.

"If everyone's name goes out there every time someone has a problem, people will stop coming in," Moreau said.

The commission has not found a state official guilty of wrongdoing since 2014, she said. 

"DPIC, in my opinion, is excessively secretive," said John Flaherty of the Delaware Coalition for Open Government. "When people like you or I are charged with crimes and found not guilty, we all know about it because of open court records. But when it's an official, there this veil of secrecy. It's ridiculous, in my opinion."

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.

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