Gov. Nathan Deal paid his daughter-in-law’s fundraising business $607,000 for the period covering the days just before he won re-election in November until the end of the year.
Deal raised almost $16 million to win re-election, but his end-of-the-year report released late Thursday showed his campaign had only about $115,000 left in the bank. Deal won his second and final term in November, and the former longtime congressman and state senator said it was his final campaign. His end-of-the-year report shows his campaign raised about $568,000 just before and just after the election.
There is nothing prohibiting campaigns in Georgia from hiring family members so long as they are reimbursed at a fair-market value.
Denise Deal has been the governor’s fundraiser since he began running in 2009, despite limited experience raising money for political campaigns. Just prior to joining the campaign, she worked as executive director of a Hall County community program.
Her companies, Southern Magnolia Capital and The Sassafrass Group, received more than $1.5 million from the governor’s re-election campaign, including the money noted in his end-of-the-year filing.
Once Nathan Deal won his first term in 2010, numerous Republican lawmakers hired his daughter-in-law to raise money for them. She worked out of a facility at the airport in Gainesville, the same building that served as a campaign headquarters for the governor in 2010.
Her firms also received about $115,000 in commissions and fundraising expenses from Real PAC, a separate political action committee formed to raise money to further the governor’s cause.
“Denise Deal has been an important part of our campaign team the entire 2014 cycle,” said Deal’s campaign manager, Tom Willis. “The hard work and fundraising abilities of her and her team speak for themselves.
“The compensation for her firm’s labor are equivalent to other other fundraisers within the industry, and are open for all to see in our disclosure. We had the biggest third quarter fundraising total in the history of Georgia governor’s races. It was her job to make sure the campaign had the resources to deliver Gov. Deal’s message and vision to Georgia voters, and she delivered that. “
The end-of-the-year report also showed several campaign staffers received bonuses. Such bonuses are common in campaigns.
Willis earned a $20,000 campaign bonus. Deal campaign spokeswoman Jen Talaber got a $15,000 victory bonus in December.
The campaign also reported spending $310,000 on media buys in the final days of the campaign. In addition, it refunded about $268,000, much of it taken in from donors in anticipation of a possible general election runoff with Democrat Jason Carter. Deal received about 53 percent of the vote in November, so no runoff was necessary.
Deal is scheduled to be sworn in for his second term Monday.
Carter, Deal’s main opponent, filed a report showing he raised and spent about $8.3 million on the campaign.
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