Ousted New Hanover school board incumbent demands recount, files complaint with board of elections

A New Hanover County school board candidate has called for a recount after finishing just two votes behind his opponent.

Nelson Beaulieu has requested a recount by the New Hanover County Board of Elections after losing to Jennah Bosch in the democratic primary for school board.

Beaulieu, an incumbent, was only three votes ahead of Bosch at the end of election night, but after all absentee ballots were counted and the vote was finalized during the county canvass, Bosch took the lead by just two votes.

“I worked very hard and my family worked very hard, and I just I felt like I owed it to my supporters to make sure that we verified the result,” Beaulieu said.

As of now, Bosch will claim the fourth and final democratic nomination for New Hanover County Board of Education this November, alongside candidates Veronica McLaurin-Brown, Dorian Cromartie and Judy Justice. That could change depending on the outcome of the recount.

Candidates can demand a recount if there is less than a 1% split between themselves and the lowest prevailing candidate. Beaulieu and Bosch are separated by not even .01% of the vote.

Beaulieu said regardless of the outcome of the recount, he believes Bosch deserves “a lot of credit” for her campaign. He said if she ultimately becomes the final candidate on the ballot, she will have his support.

“I think she should be very proud, and I wish her the best, win, lose or draw,” Beaulieu said.

Beaulieu also filed a complaint with the State Board of Elections over alleged campaign finance violations. He claims Justice, McLaurin-Brown and Cromartie incorrectly filed donations made to their campaigns that funded palm card handouts.

Most significantly, Beaulieu alleges Justice incorrectly filed a donation from former State Superintendent candidate Jen Mangrum. Mangrum contributed $1,000 to Justice’s campaign through her own campaign fund, Jen Mangrum for NC. Justice, however, reported this as a personal donation from Mangrum on her campaign finance report.

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With the funding, Justice had palm cards printed promoting herself, Cromartie and McLaurin-Brown as “teacher endorsed candidates.”

Beaulieu alleges because of this, Cromartie and McLaurin-Brown also violated campaign finance laws because they did not report Mangrum’s donation on their own filings. Candidates are required to file in-kind contributions, or contributions from a fellow candidate’s campaign, if they coordinated together to fund and distribute materials such as palm cards.

“I had a contribution and I spent it for the campaign,” Justice said. “There is no problem with that. It's legal.”

Beaulieu said it’s a complicated issue, but he hopes the Board of Elections will look at his complaint and make a decision based on state campaign finance laws.

Beaulieu filed an ethics complaint with the state Democratic Party as well. He said he believes ethics were violated when sample ballots were passed out to voters with his name scratched out, claiming he had dropped out of the race.

While there isn’t any legal action he can take over the issue, Beaulieu said he felt he needed to speak out to hold each other accountable.

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“I think if we have reached the point where it doesn't matter, if a vote is just a vote, it doesn't matter if you're deceiving a voter or persuading a voter, I think that's really sad,” Beaulieu said. “It's not just politics. I think that's a sad way to run an election, to exist in a party. I don't think that's the way we should conduct ourselves.”

Cromartie said in response to the ethics complaint, the best thing to do is support the other candidates in an effort to unite the party. He said in response to the campaign finance complaint he doesn’t feel he has done anything wrong, and he wishes he hadn’t been “dragged into whatever mess or drama he (Beaulieu) is trying to cook up.”

Cromartie said if the board of elections does fine him for a violation, he plans to pay it, implement corrective action within his campaign, and move forward.

“I'm not focused on small, petty issues,” Cromartie said. “I'm focused on the bigger picture which is getting elected so we can implement good change for our students.”

McLaurin-Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Justice said she believes that’s just a part of politics. She said she also saw ballots passed around with her own name scratched out, and that’s just part of running for office.

She said she feels the complaints are a last ditch effort after Beaulieu lost the nomination in the primaries and after a tumultuous relationship the two have had over their four years on the board together.

“It's just sour grapes,” Justice said.

Reporter Sydney Hoover can be reached at 910-343-2339 or shoover@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Ousted New Hanover school board incumbent calls for vote recount