Longtime North Carolina campaign finance watchdog Bob Hall has filed complaints with the State Board of Elections against two members of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, alleging one made an illegal campaign contribution in 2022 and the other failed to report it.
Hall filed a complaint against board member Brenda Eldridge, the board’s current secretary and a former chairwoman of the Cumberland County Republican Party, for allegedly making an illegal campaign contribution. He filed another against current board chairwoman Linda Devore for not reporting the alleged infraction to the State Board of Elections. Devore was a member of the county election board at the time.
Neither Eldridge nor Devore responded to voice messages left by NC Newsline Tuesday.
In the complaint against Eldridge, Hall alleges that Eldridge “intentionally collected contributions from anonymous sources and used the funds to help make, or reimburse herself for, a $25,000 contribution in her name to the Cumberland County Republican Party.”
He said it’s a violation of state law to make a campaign contribution with someone else’s money or in the name of another donor. Unlawful contributions of more than $10,000 are a felony. Felonies have no statute of limitations in North Carolina.
Eldridge allegedly made the contribution to pay Gen. Michael Flynn’s fee as the featured speaker at a county party fundraising event that year. Flynn was national security adviser for 22 days during the first Trump administration. He resigned in February 2017 in the wake of reports that he lied about discussing U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador before Trump took office.
Hall’s complaint against Devore alleges that she knew about Eldridge’s alleged $25,000 illegal contribution, but failed to report it to the state board of elections. In 2022, Devore chaired the Cumberland County GOP’s annual audit committee, which reviewed the party’s financial activities for that year.
“A reasonable person with the information [Linda] Devore had should have reported it to the State Board of Elections, especially as a member of the county board of elections,” Hall told NC Newsline. “She was a member of the [Cumberland County GOP’s] audit committee at that point and had a discussion about it [the $25,000] and was suspicious about it.”
Hall says Devore resigned after the committee’s first meeting. He provided affidavits from members of the county’s GOP’s executive board who said Devore told them in 2025 that she resigned from the party’s audit committee because she believed Eldridge broke the law when she made the $25,000 contribution.
“She didn’t want to sign off on an audit that she knew was not correct,” Juanita Gonzalez wrote in her affidavit. “She said making donations by using other people’s money was what sent Dinesh D’Souza to prison.”
D’Souza is a conservative author and filmmaker who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2014 for violating campaign laws. He was pardoned by President Trump in 2018.
Hall said Devore acknowledged mentioning D’Souza during the 2022 audit committee meeting, but denied “telling anyone that there was something wrong with Eldridge’s $25,000 contribution.”
Hall asked the State Board of Elections to remove Devore from the county board, citing state law that gives it the authority to remove a county board member for “incompetency, neglect or failure to perform duties, fraud, or for any other satisfactory cause.”
“It’s critical for the public to have confidence in the boards of elections across the state,” Hall said. “The county boards play an extremely important role in maintaining fair elections and we want them to be focused on serving voters.”
In the complaint, Hall said Devore has a history of alleged bias and authoritarian leadership. During the recent 2026 primary, he claims Devore “inappropriately and negligently insisted” that a tent promoting certain candidates remain inside the 50-foot buffer zone at an early voting site. State law bans political activity within 50 feet of the entrance of voting sites.
He also complained that Devore insisted that her choices for new Republican poll workers serve as chief judges, despite warnings that they should begin as assistant judges to gain experience.
Hall said eight or nine of the new judges did not fill out required paperwork or attend training and had to be replaced before the 2026 primary.
He wrote in the complaint that voters attending county board of elections meetings describe incidents of Devore “belittling,” “bullying” and “beating up” [elections board] staff members.
“Combined with her other actions, I urge the State Board to conclude that Devore is not fit to serve as chair of the [county board of elections],” Hall said.
Complaints made to the State Board of Elections are confidential, so officials declined to answer questions about the complaints against Devore and Eldridge.
A spokesman provided links showing how such complaints are handled.
After an initial review, staff members will determine whether violations did occur. If no violation is found, both the complainant and the respondent will be notified and the case will be closed. The complainant can file a new complaint if he or she becomes aware of new facts that were not known when the original complaint was filed.
If the complaint is not closed, the staff reviews the initial investigation and categorizes it as an enforcement action meriting further investigation or a compliance action, meaning the staff will work with the respondent to take corrective action.