Here are filings so you can “follow the money” in Liberty County to see how much money each sheriff candidate has received and spent leading up to Tuesday’s May 21 general primary election.
State requirements
Under Georgia law, candidates for office are required to file paperwork showing their personal assets, all campaign contributions and spending, occasional updates (within two days) in between filing deadlines, and whether or not they intend to accept donations totaling more than $2,500 during the campaign. Candidates who fail to file the required paperwork, or who file late, are subject to penalties and could be brought before the State Ethics Commission.
Some local candidates file with their jurisdictions. For example, candidates for city council or mayor file with City Hall. Others, like county, state, and statewide officials, file with the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission. Anyone can look up those filings online, although the system can be a bit tricky to navigate.
Anatomy of a CCDR
Each candidate who plans to accept more than $2,500 during their campaign must file a Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report (CCDR). This document contains candidate contact information, filing date, contributions received, campaign debts (if any), itemized contributions with donor information, itemized campaign expenditures, and campaign investments (if any).
Other important campaign disclosure forms include “Declaration of Intent to Accept Campaign Contributions” (DOI), “Personal Financial Disclosure Statement” (PFDS), “Two Business Days Report of Contributions Received” (between the last reporting date and the election), and “Affidavit of a Candidate’s Intent Not to Exceed $2,500 in Contributions and/or Expenditures” (Affidavit of Exemption) Eighteen candidates in several other races on the May 21 ballot have filed affidavits of exemption.
Add it up
The Current combed through all candidates in the Liberty County Sheriff’s race to find out how much each candidate has received in donations, who gave them that money, and how those candidates reported spending it. Some data was handwritten and some was typed, which meant we had to type up all the entries into a spreadsheet, then calculate dollar amounts. We also checked the individual donors and businesses listed to see what connections they might have to each candidate.
Bowman, the incumbent and a Democrat, has reported the biggest war chest at $42,101. Other candidates running in the Democratic primary include Kevin Hofkin with $16,167.10 reported in donations; Keith Jenkins, with $11,242.84; and Gary Richardson, with a total of $26,327.75, including $24,361.48 in cash and $1,966.27 in in-kind donations.
Republican Gary Eason, who is assured a spot on the November ballot, has reported the smallest total donations for the primary race at $9,695.
Click on the + sign next to each candidate’s name to see their donor list:
William Bowman
Gary Eason
Kevin Hofkin
Keith Jenkins
Gary Richardson
Donors of note
Bowman reported donations from several hotel owners, as well as from businesses and business owners who provide goods and services to jails and law enforcement: Viral Solutions, LLC (COVID testing), LCM Concrete, Liberty Glass, Smiley Bonding, Pauly Jail Building, Central Georgia Polygraph, Titan Steel Door, and First Class Healthcare Staffing, among others. The Al Williams Election Committee also kicked in, as did the Osteen Law Group, attorney Luke Moses, and engineer Marcus Sack, both of whom serve on the Liberty County Development Authority. Peachtree Government Relations, a lobbying firm that specializes in procuring goods and services for government entities, donated $1,000.
Most of Eason’s donors are listed as being retired. He also had donations from Liberty Towing, White’s Service Center in Midway, Savannah Response Medics (ambulance company), Taylor’s Construction, and Mr. Cash Pawn.
Hofkin listed nearly all individual donors, except for Elite Roofing and Consulting Services.
Jenkins listed mostly family members, construction contractors, “T. Sikes,” and Happy Acres Mobile Home Park.
Richardson listed Slade Sikes of Salt Creek Ventures and Brett Sikes, who made an in-kind donation of “4×4 signs.” Other notable donors include Jason Smiley of Taylor’s Creek Construction, attorney Johnny Gaskin, Coastal Pawn, plumber Scott Wells, real estate agent Josh Wheeler, and Rick Lauver of HHS Government Services.
Want to know more?
You can take a look at the source documents for this story for more information about how candidates say they spent these funds. All the donor information — names, addresses, employers, companies, dollar amounts, dates — is public record.
On the Georgia Campaign Finance System home page, in the search box at the top, type in “Liberty County,” then choose “Liberty County” from the drop-down results. You’ll get a list of filers in this primary and for races going back to 2021, the forms they filed, and the date when each form was received. Click on the filer’s name and you’ll see a PDF copy of that form, which you can download.
For older records, visit the legacy site.
