Summary:
- “Tide Turners,” a GOP pressure group in Wilmington, faces a formal investigation
- “Tide Turners” has openly defied North Carolina state election law in multiple ways
- An investigation by state election authorities is ongoing
“Tide Turners,” a Republican activist group based in Wilmington, faces a formal investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. It’s based on a formal complaint filed by Carolina Forward, which detailed numerous clear violations of both state and federal campaign finance law.
As outlined in the full complaint, “Tide Turners” is the name of an independent expenditure PAC registered with the state Board of Elections, which was opened in October of 2021 and closed in September of this year. The group also registered a 501c(4) non-profit entity that was recognized by the IRS in April of 2023.
For much of 2024, Tide Turners has acted in a political campaign capacity for several local Republican candidates and the New Hanover GOP. Several recent examples include direct fundraising activities for the New Hanover GOP, coordinating political campaign activity with candidates for office, failing to report this activity political campaign contributions, and unlawfully fundraising without a Charitable Solicitation License, as required under North Carolina state law.
Tide Turners has promoted and openly coordinated with three Republican candidates for New Hanover county commission: Dane Scalise, John Hinnant and Bill Rivenbark. This includes fundraising for and spending funds to directly promote these candidates without any disclosure, such as the independent expenditures shown in the signs above. In fact, Tide Turners cannot report these independent expenditures, as their PAC was administratively closed by the State Board of Elections due to non-compliance.
The presumptive reason for the Tide Turners behavior is that many of their donors presumably wished to remain anonymous, but still engage in coordinated partisan political activity with candidates, up to and including direct financial support. Whether through ignorance of the law or nonchalance about it, the activists behind the organization attempted – unsuccessfully – to evade the law.
Penalties for violating North Carolina state election law can vary. Often, they can include fines, but may extend to more serious consequences as well. We await next steps of the State Board of Election’s investigation.
