RICHMOND, Va. -- The campaign for Richmond City Council candidate Tavares Floyd has reported to have raised significantly more money than Floyd's opponents, but some of the donors the Floyd campaign has claimed told CBS 6 they have not made any contributions.
For the past month, Floyd has not responded to CBS 6's questions surrounding his campaign finance reporting and instead sent the news station a legal threat.
Floyd is running for city council in the 6th district, which represents areas in Northside, Downtown, and Manchester. His opponents are incumbent Ellen Robertson, whom Floyd used to work for as a City Hall liaison, and Willie Hilliard.
According to data published by the Virginia Department of Elections, Hilliard's campaign has reported about $17,000 in total campaign contributions, Roberston's campaign has reported about $74,000, and Floyd's campaign has reported just over $140,000 in total contributions.
"It's rare and unusual in a city council race which really focuses on districts, which really focuses on door knocking, getting out there, talking to the voters, that somebody would have this amount of resources to run the campaign," CBS 6 political analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth said about the Floyd campaign's reported finances.
But some people the Floyd campaign has reported as donors refute that they've given money to his campaign.
According to state records, Floyd's campaign listed Chicago businessman and former politician Willie Wilson, owner of Omar Medical Supplies, as his top donor. The campaign claimed Wilson donated $20,000, but Wilson told CBS 6 that is untrue.
"I did not do that. I don't even know the person running for office in, I guess Richmond, Virginia," Wilson said.
Floyd's campaign also reported that Donald Baskerville, employed by Baskerville Funeral Home in Tennessee, donated $5,000. Baskerville told CBS 6 he has never contributed, does not know who Tavares Floyd is, and wants his name to be cleared as a donor.
Then, there's attorney Arthur Horne, who runs a law firm in Memphis. Floyd's campaign reported Horne donated $5,000, but Horne said he did no such thing.
“That’s crazy. I don’t know this person and I definitely didn’t give him $5,000," Horne said.
Holsworth called this "one of the most unusual situations" he's ever seen.
Holsworth said finance reporting concerns usually center around candidates who under-report donations or attempt to hide money.
“That's pretty baffling, but I guess they want to show that the campaign might be more serious than it actually is," Holsworth said.
Floyd's campaign also reported that he paid about $3,300 in credit card processing fees to the third-party donation website ActBlue between April and June.
According to ActBlue's website, it charges a 3.95% fee on contributions.
If the $3,300 reported in processing fees represents the 3.95% charge, then the Floyd campaign's reporting would equate to nearly $85,000 in donations through ActBlue.
But ActBlue's filings with the state during the same time period showed it disbursed about $2,750 to Floyd's campaign.
That's a roughly $82,000 difference.
ActBlue did not respond to CBS 6's request for comment.
As of October 23, the Floyd campaign's ActBlue donation page said it was not active.
CBS 6 began asking Floyd questions about his campaign reporting on September 23.
Floyd did not respond to multiple calls, texts, and emails, and on October 18, he sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding that CBS 6 not air a story.
CBS 6 reached back out to Floyd multiple more times on Wednesday with questions about his campaign's listed donors and ActBlue pay-outs. We have still not heard back.
No official government agency contacted by CBS 6 said it was addressing the Floyd campaign's financial reporting.
Both the state Department of Elections and Richmond registrar Keith Balmer said they do not have the authority to investigate the situation.
Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for the state Department of Elections, said Balmer, as the registrar of the locality where campaign finances for local candidates are handled, would be responsible for handling "any issues for this committee according to the Code of Virginia."
Gaines said Balmer has the option of reporting violations of campaign reporting to the Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney or requesting more information from the candidate to correct reports, mathematical errors, or fulfill the requirements of finance reporting.
However, Balmer said his office would "rely on guidance from the Department of Elections regarding campaign finance reports" and that he has not received any notifications from the state regarding the Floyd campaign.
Balmer said he is only responsible for ensuring political committees file reports and do it on time.
"There is no requirement or mention in the statute that I must scrutinize the content of the filings beyond ensuring their timeliness and completeness," Balmer said.
Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin said she has received no complaints or investigative reports from any local or state government agencies or boards regarding this matter.
“Because it's an unprecedented situation, what you're now seeing are these officials, both at the state level and the local level, essentially playing ping pong," Holsworth said. "No one wants to be held responsible for doing this, but somebody has to be."
Holsworth said stronger oversight, regulation, and laws that reinforce accurate finance reporting are needed in Virginia.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have information to share.
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