Mayor at center of Beshear donation controversy under investigation for gas giveaway as candidate

London Mayor Randall Weddle was already under investigation for alleged campaign finance violations months before he gave $202,000 in donations above the legal limits to Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party.

As a mayoral candidate in 2022, Weddle sponsored a free gasoline giveaway for area residents less than three months before the election. Weddle won with 56% of the vote.

That event prompted a complaint, which is still open, to be filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF) in 2022 just days after the August event. That complaint also alleges that Weddle provided voters with limousine rides to the polls and gave various gifts to city and county departments.

The Beshear campaign has stated that it, along with the KDP, will refund all donations linked to Weddle’s credit card.

Weddle himself did not give to Beshear or to KDP, but family members and business associates of his gave more than $300,000 to both organizations, according to reporting earlier this year from the Kentucky Lantern. Weddle, a Republican who was elected mayor of the Southeastern Kentucky city in 2022, was appointed by Beshear to the Kentucky Transportation Center Advisory Board last June.

The office of Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who is the GOP nominee running against Beshear’s re-election effort this year, said that it’s considering its options in pursuing legal action over Weddle’s contributions.

“The Office of the Attorney General will consider all appropriate options in connection with the contributions in question.”

An employee at London city hall said that Weddle was not at the office when the Herald-Leader reached out for comment Wednesday.

The gas giveaway

The gas giveaway, held at Ruby Market just outside of London city limits, got the most public attention. It was hosted by Weddle and his wife, Victoria. Victoria Weddle was one of several family members and business connections of Weddle’s to have donated to either Beshear’s campaign or the KDP.

A story in the local newspaper, the Sentinel-Echo, said that “thousands” flocked to the gas station for $50 in free gas as well as hot dogs and chili.

The newspaper stated that recipients were limited to Laurel County residents – London is the seat of the Southeastern Kentucky county – over the age of 55. A flier for the event states that the giveaway was “for all seniors” and that people must present a valid driver’s license and Medicaid or Medicare card.

The event was so well attended that it caused something of a traffic jam, with the newspaper noting that cars lined up on a state highway nearly a mile away.

The complaint with KREF against Weddle – as well as another candidate, sixth-place family court judge finisher Jonathan Jones, who tried to campaign near the gas giveaway at a different store while cars were lined up – was penned by Charles Douglas Phelps.

Phelps, a former school administrator who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and tampering with a witness in 2013, was one of several controversial pardons issued by former GOP governor Matt Bevin at the end of his tenure.

When contacted, Phelps said that Weddle was “behaving like an idiot with a lot of money.”

“I filed the complaint against Mr. Weddle in the gas giveaway because I felt that it was the right thing to do. Little did I know that my complaint is the proverbial tip of the iceberg, as we are now seeing,” Phelps said.

The complaint against Weddle alleges that the giveaway amounted to Weddle paying for votes. Phelps filed the complaint with KREF in September 2022.

“Never in my life have I witnessed such blatant disrespect for the campaign laws of the State of Kentucky,” Phelps wrote. “The arrogance and brash demeanor of these candidates and the number of impressionable supporters have been noted and well-discussed among the conscientious citizens of our community. It seems as though the people feel helpless to hold political candidates to the acceptable standards that exist. It is my hope that the system still works and accountability matters yet.”

Though Weddle did not respond to a call for comment, he posted on his private Facebook on Wednesday night with a shot at Phelps, posting a screenshot of a Herald-Leader story and calling Phelps a “pedo” in reference to his past charges.

“This dude has done nothing but talk about me for two and a half years! They can keep writing articles about me so long as they keep writing about ole Charles Manson I mean Doug Phelps... Man of his character can totally be trusted,” Weddle wrote.

Weddle was running for mayor at the time against London city councilman Judd Weaver, in what news station WYMT called “one of the most hotly contested races in all of Eastern Kentucky.”

Weddle’s attorney’s response to the complaint notes that Weddle was out of the country at the time of the giveaway but one of his top employees at his freight hauling company, WB Transport, was an organizer. That employee, Robert Kyle Gray, was one of several people linked to Weddle who gave a significant chunk of money to the KDP and Beshear’s campaign. A woman with the same last name and address as Gray also gave to the KDP.

The response stated that Weddle got the idea for the event when he witnessed an elderly woman trying to pay for gas at Ruby Market with just three dollars.

A flier advertising the event prominently displays the sponsors “Randall & Victoria Weddle” as well as “WB Transport & Ruby Market” near the top.

Weddle retained the prominent legal firm Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs to defend against the allegations to KREF. An attorney for the firm, Douglas McSwain, wrote in Weddle’s defense that the group organizing the event took great pains to not provide any election-related material to the gas-seeking Laurel Countians. He called it a “neutral philanthropic event.”

“In short, the Ruby Market event was a neutral philanthropic event planned by multiple organizations to provide community service, and was purposefully disconnected in every way from the Weddle campaign or any electioneering,” McSwain wrote.

The response also highlighted that Weddle’s associates and organizers of the event “roundly condemned” Jones’ effort to campaign at a different store “down the street” while Weddle’s gas giveaway was going on.

Another attorney for Weddle, in a cease and desist letter sent to Jones’ campaign, said that the “situation became hostile” between the Weddle event organizers and Jones’ campaigners and that they only left after “multiple demands and threats of law enforcement intervention.”

McSwain also provided sworn affidavits from Weddle, Gray and multiple employees of Ruby Market and WB Transport.

Limo rides and donations

The other allegations in Phelps’ complaint were also rebuffed in McSwain’s response.

Phelps wrote that Weddle was involved in using limousine drivers to transport voters to the polls during the mayoral primary, which took place May 2022, and to instruct voters “where and how to vote for Randall Weddle.”

In response to the allegation, McSwain wrote that after Weddle noticed during door-to-door campaigning that “a number of voters were without any means to transport themselves to and from the polls,” a limousine driver volunteered to help.

That driver, Jeremiah Russell, stated in an affidavit that he transported 16 individuals to and from polling locations during the primary.

“Russell never discussed Weddle’s campaign or any other candidate’s campaign. Likewise, Russell’s assistance of these individuals did not extend beyond accompanying them to the polls, and he never accompanied any voter into a voting booth. He merely assisted elderly or disabled voters in and out of the transportation vehicles and to the polling places,” McSwain wrote.

The response also claims that Weddle consulted a KREF employee prior to authorizing Russell to transport voters. The response states that the employee told him that transporting voters to the polls is “perfectly acceptable under Kentucky election law so long as it is not done in consideration for votes and the campaign was not discussed.”

The response also counters a claim made in the complaint, stating that neither Weddle nor any driver of a limousine created a “disturbance” at the polls during the primary election.

Phelps’ third allegation has to do with Weddle’s charitable giving.

It is not uncommon for wealthy political candidates to give large sums of money, but Phelps called his giving to local law enforcement agencies and other organizations “potential violations.”

“While the complaint mostly references giving and donations that occurred before he declared an intent to seek public office, he is permitted as a matter of law to continue routine and periodic charitable giving... Weddle’s pre-candidacy charitable giving obviously has no bearing on any alleged campaign-finance violation,” McSwain wrote.

In his affidavit, Weddle acknowledges various instances of charitable giving in recent years, including two instances aside from the gas giveaway after he announced his run for mayor.

“In or about October 2021, my wife and I donated about $30,000 to assist in transporting a Kentucky State Police Officer (this officer’s initials are C.M.) who needed to go to an Ohio hospital for treatment otherwise unavailable in this area at that time. The officer pulled through, and may be alive today in part due to being transported to the Ohio hospital,” Weddle stated in the affidavit.

He also mentioned a moment when he gave $75 local restaurant gift cards to members of the London Police Department.

Prior to his run, starting in 2017, Weddle states that he contributed the following:

• Five iPads to the Lily Fire and Rescue Department in Laurel County in 2017

• $10,000 to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department in Oct. 2019

• “Several Ford Explorer vehicles at a cost of $37,444” to the Laurel County Sheriff’s Department

• $7,800 to the London City Firemen’s Club to match donations for a fireman who had contracted COVID-19

The timing of it all

KREF provided some clarity on Wednesday as to when the issue with Weddle’s credit card was first flagged.

A statement from KREF Executive Director John Steffen noted that an attorney for the Beshear campaign first reached out to KREF to discuss the matter on April 28. By May 9, the campaign told KREF that it had taken “the necessary steps to resolve the matter.”

A story by The Kentucky Lantern first reported the donations from Weddle and those close to him on April 17.

On May 18, Weddle attended a weekly press conference where Beshear handed out over-sized checks to local officials whose communities received a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant. London received one for $1.4 million — since Beshear has been governor, the administration has granted $21.7 million in total funds from the program to localities.

When asked for a statement on if and when they informed Beshear’s official team of the findings regarding Weddle’s credit card before the event with Weddle in attendance — given that the campaign reached out to KREF in late April — Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd did not respond to that question directly.

Instead, the campaign criticized Republicans who have framed the situation as a “pay-to-play” scandal given Weddle’s appointment to a state board and the awarding of the grant.

“The city of London was one of 33 city or county governments to receive a grant to improve sidewalks or pedestrian paths. These grants are selected and administered by staff in the Transportation Cabinet according to strict criteria; politics play no role in grant allocation decisions or presenting these grants,” Floyd said in a statement. “In a sloppy rush to score political points, Daniel Cameron’s allies are suggesting that the people of London should not receive infrastructure funding.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office has not responded to questions regarding whether or not they knew Weddle’s credit card had been flagged for excess contributions before the May 18 event.