DOVER, Del. (AP) - A state senator who is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor said Thursday that her husband, a New Castle County housing inspector, did not improperly use confidential public housing records to solicit votes for her during her 2014 re-election campaign.
Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, D-Middletown, said an internal review by county officials last year cleared her husband, Dana Long, of any wrongdoing. County officials also have asserted that an investigation cleared Dana Long, even though New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon said in a recorded telephone conversation last year that Long should be fired.
In a conference call with reporters, Hall-Long deflected questions about whether she or her husband could provide documentation confirming that he did not improperly access information on Section 8 voucher recipients in order to call them and urge them to vote for her.
“I wouldn’t have that. … There’s confidentiality. It’s a personnel matter,” she said.
“My husband has made his statement. The county has released their position. … A thorough HR review was conducted and there was no wrongdoing,” she added.
Hall-Long refused to say whether she would encourage her husband to answer questions from the news media.
She also did not deny that Dana Long called Section 8 clients on her behalf, saying only that he did not use any confidential information regarding Section 8 clients.
“Dana never used any list,” she said. “My husband unequivocally stated that he did not make any calls from any such list.”
Hall-Long said there would be no reason for her husband to use housing client lists because her campaign purchased voter lists. She also said there was no campaign strategy to target Section 8 clients.
Hall-Long said she is frustrated that she and her husband have been pulled into a long-standing feud involving Gordon and his former chief administrative officer, David Grimaldi.
In a telephone conversation secretly recorded by Grimaldi last year and first reported by WDEL-FM, Gordon suggested that he did not want Long fired because he was married to the senator, whom Gordon considered a political ally in Dover who could help protect the county’s finances.
“That woman … we got her because of her husband,” Gordon told Grimaldi. “And she’s got clout down there in the Senate.”
But Grimaldi is heard on the call telling Gordon that Long had admitted taking a list of Section 8 housing clients.
“He said, ’Yeah, but I was doing it on my own time,’” Grimaldi told Gordon.
Gordon, who fired Grimaldi last year, issued a statement Wednesday saying that initial information provided to Grimaldi about Long’s supposed admission turned out to be inaccurate, and that there was no violation of any law or regulation.
Hall-Long said she was disturbed by what she heard on the recording, but that she had never spoken to anyone in county government about her husband or his job status.
In 2014, in the midst of his wife’s re-election campaign, Dana Long was arrested and charged with theft after being caught stealing Republican campaign signs. The case was resolved through mediation and did not result in prosecution.
State Republican Party Chairman Charlie Copeland issued a statement saying he was disappointed that Hall-Long would not commit to releasing documents relevant to the controversy involving her husband and Gordon.
“It would be the easiest way to clear the air on the troubling accusations that have arisen over the last few days,” Copeland said. “With Mr. Long’s existing relationship to poor campaign behavior I would think that the senator would want to reassure the citizens of Delaware that her words match the facts. Transparency matters.”
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