Quick Take: Beebe Gets An “F” On Her Campaign Finance Report [Updated] BESE Member Filed Report On Time, But Didn't Disclose Anything

Update – 9/15/15:

Lottie Beebe sent the following tweet in response to this piece:

Lottie Beebe, who is running for reelection as the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s District 3 member, didn’t follow the directions when she filed her most recent campaign finance report to the Louisiana Board of Ethics back in July.

I say that because a review of Beebe’s campaign finance reports on the Board of Ethics website reveals she hasn’t disclosed much of anything, at least in 2015.

Candidates for a “major office” – a designation which includes BESE members like Beebe – were required to file campaign finance disclosure form 90-P (90 days from the primary) on July 27, 2015.

Beebe managed to file a report on that date, the problem is the report:

1. Didn’t actually disclose anything about her campaign finances, and;
2. Didn’t cover the period required by the Board of Ethics.

In regard to the first issue, the disclosure filed on July 27th [see full report below] states that Beebe had $0.00 in her campaign coffers and she neither received nor spent any campaign funds. To be clear, it’s entirely possible (although surprising) that Beebe’s campaign bank account was empty just two weeks before she announced she was running for reelection, but it doesn’t necessarily bode well for her chances.

On the other hand, the second problem is clear: Lottie Beebe’s most recent campaign finance filing says it covers a period of only 24 hours – July 15th to July 16th – in spite of the fact that the report was required to cover the period from January 1st through July 16th, 2015.

While Beebe’s recent report raises questions about whether she’s been properly disclosing her campaign finances as required by state law, the most important question is whether voters can trust Lottie Beebe on BESE when she can’t even follow Louisiana’s ethics requirements.