The S.C. State Ethics Commission has resolved a second campaign ethics complaint filed against Beaufort County Councilwoman Laura Von Harten, the commission’s executive said Thursday.
The complaint, filed by Randy Bates, a political adviser for Von Harten’s Republican opponent in the November 2006 County Council election, alleged Davis Folsom of Beaufort did not properly document campaign spending on her behalf, said commission Executive Director Herb Hayden. Folsom had written a letter distributed to voters supporting Von Harten, a Democrat.
The commission dismissed the complaint in June because an investigation found that Folsom didn’t spend anything on the letter’s reproduction and distribution; he simply wrote it, Hayden said. The Von Harten campaign had paid for it appropriately.
It was the second complaint filed by Bates against the Von Harten campaign that the commission has resolved. Both were filed in January. The commission resolved the other complaint in April, which led to Von Harten paying a $100 fine for filing a document late.
Bates, now a Republican candidate for House District 124, could not be reached for comment.