Democrat Karen Liot Hill, whose unorthodox campaign spending in her Executive Council race has already raised ethical questions, failed to meet the filing deadline for both of her final two campaign reports.
One of the Lebanon Democrat’s reports was due Oct. 30, the other on Nov. 13. But neither was filed with the Secretary of State’s Office until Thursday, Dec. 12 and they didn’t appear in the public campaign finance database until Dec. 13.
Liot Hill is set to be sworn in next month as the District 2 Executive Councilor, replacing Cinde Warmington, who chose to run for governor rather than another term on the council. Warmington lost to former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in the Democratic primary. Craig went on to lose to Republican Kelly Ayotte in the general election.
Liot Hill handily defeated Republican Kim Strathdee in the heavily-Democrat district.
In October, NHJournal broke the story of Liot Hill’s questionable campaign finance spending in her primary against Democrat Mike Liberty. According to her campaign disclosures, Liot Hill spent thousands in campaign cash on meals, clothes, and visits to salons. Her campaign expenditures included a $190 ferry ride to the Hamptons and $181 to register her car.
She also reported spending $7,004 on gas for her car, $755 for car maintenance, and another $8,330 on meals.
A major concern regarding her original reports were two checks, one for $700 and another for $650, that did not include details on who she paid or for what election-related purpose. Both the checks correspond chronologically to court costs charged against Liot Hill.
On Dec. 12, 2023, a car financing company filed a motion for contempt against Liot Hill in Lebanon District Court for her failure to comply with a previous payment order. At the time, she had a balance of more than $1,000.
In January, Liot Hill pleaded no contest to a 2023 violation for driving with a suspended license and agreed to pay $620 in fines and court costs. However, court records show Liot Hill’s first check to cover the fine bounced.
In response to NHJournal’s reporting, Liot Hill filed amended reports. She listed the two checks for $1,350 as reimbursements to Liot Hill for campaign expenses. And while the first campaign finance documents were signed by Liot Hill’s campaign treasurer Corinne Morse, the amended filing was signed by Liot Hill herself, who took over the treasurer duties for her own campaign.
At the time, neither Morse nor Liot Hill would confirm that Morse had actually signed the original reports.
Liot Hill declined to respond to questions from NHJournal, including inquiries into whether she is currently under investigation for any of her campaign filings.
Liot Hill did not respond when contacted on Dec. 12 by NHJournal about the reports. Nor did the Secretary of State’s Office respond to NHJournal’s questions about the reports. The New Hampshire attorney general would not confirm or deny if an investigation is underway. Contacted Saturday, Morse said she has not been interviewed by anyone from the Attorney General’s Office.
The Executive Council’s job is to provide oversight of state spending on behalf of the taxpayers, which makes the issues surrounding Liot Hill particularly problematic, said New Hampshire GOP chair Chris Ager.
“For someone who must review state contracts, these reports are very disturbing.”
