We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
The fiction of Ward 5 D.C. Council candidate Harry Thomas Jr.’s field-leading campaign war chest has been exposed in a July 26 response to an inquiry from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance.
On paper, Thomas is the Ward 5 fundraising champ. According to his June 10 report, Thomas raised $49,545 and had $42,052 cash on hand. Thomas appeared to be leaving his rivals in the dust.
In a July 12 letter his Thomas’ campaign treasurer and wife, Diane Romo Thomas, OCF asked her to provide a little more information about the June 10 filing. “You report several in-kind contributions, but you failed to report these as expenditures,” the office wrote, reminding the campaign that all in-kind contributions must be itemized on the spending side of the ledger. By “several” OCF meant a total of $22,350 of Thomas’ receipts were of the in-kind variety—including $10,000 in-kind from himself.
The July 26 amended report provides a leaner bottom line for Team Thomas. His total remains the same, but once the sketchy in-kind contributions are subtracted as campaign expenditures, his cash balance shrinks to $18,787.
This isn't a paywall.
We don't have one. Readers like you keep our work free for everyone to read. If you think that it's important to have high quality local reporting we hope you'll support our work with a monthly contribution.