Influential Durham political group requests criminal investigation. What we know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Durham PAC leadership resigned amid financial misconduct allegations in May 2025.
- SBI launched investigation after CPA audit revealed possible embezzlement.
- Chair Floyd McKissick Jr. emphasized the main Committee is not under scrutiny.
One of Durham’s most influential political groups has new leadership weeks after allegations of misconduct that prompted the abrupt resignations of four members last month, according to its chairman, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr.
William “Drew” Marsh, a former district court judge, has been named chair of the Political Action Committee of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, alongside Brenda Howerton, former chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, as vice chair.
Their appointments were announced on June 6, following the resignations of former Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal and Donald Hughes as the PAC’s chair and vice chair in May. The two had assumed office in January, as did McKissick, who was elected chair of the executive Durham Committee.
Hughes told The News & Observer he resigned over evidence of alleged financial malfeasance under the PAC’s previous leadership.
In a statement, the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that a case involving the Durham Committee “began at the request of the Durham County District Attorney.”
“The case is being investigated by the SBI financial crimes unit,” SBI public information officer Chad Flowers said in an email.
Two other members of the Durham Committee have also resigned: Jackie Wagstaff, who served as vice chair of the Housing Committee, and Nimasheena Burns, who was the second vice chair of the Committee.
The Durham Committee has nine sub-committees along with the Political Action Committee, which supports the group’s voter education efforts and candidate endorsements.
What are the allegations?
Hughes said once elected, he and the PAC’s new leadership began requesting transition documents “because we knew that there were financial implications of our assuming the responsibility as leaders of the PAC.”
“We wanted to be sure that we were starting on the right foot, so we were requesting the bank statements and any other documents that will be needed in order to effectively execute our responsibilities,” Hughes told The N&O, adding that it took a month to get any documents. He said McKissick gave the previous chair leader extra time to get the requested documents to the Committee.
“Once we were able to get our hands on a bank statement in February, just a cursory glance at the bank statements revealed that there was a likelihood of misappropriation and potentially embezzlement of the (political donations),” he said.
Hughes said he did not want to “have a mess on our hands and be held responsible for something that we had no part in.”
The N&O has been unable to reach the PAC’s previous leaders and is not naming any of the individuals because no one has been charged with a crime.
Who is under investigation?
In an interview, McKissick confirmed that evidence of “financial irregularities” was found in the PAC’s records when he assumed the chair role earlier this year.
In response, he said he alerted O’Neal, Hughes and members of the executive committee. He said he also worked to obtain bank statements, and on Feb. 14, hired a certified public accountant to examine the PAC’s financial records from January 2023 to January 2025.
The CPA completed a financial records reconciliation report, McKissick said. He shared the findings with District Attorney Satana Deberry and formally requested a criminal investigation.
He emphasized that the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People itself is not under investigation, only the PAC, and that the request for the investigation came from the Durham Committee’s general body.
McKissick said Deberry told him “the report that had been prepared by the CPA should not be delivered to anyone or disclosed to anyone other than a person with the State Board of Elections.”
The Political Action Committee is also governed by State Board of Elections laws.
How did the members respond to the allegations?
Hughes alleges that the PAC’s leadership was “left in the dark” about the accountant’s findings and accuses McKissick of not being transparent.
“I could not put my name on something when information was being withheld,” he said. “I couldn’t understand why I would not be privy to that report.”
Wagstaff, who previously served on the Durham City Council, said she requested financial reports at past meetings in previous years but never received them.
“I didn’t want anybody to believe that I would sit in that Durham Committee and be an officer knowing that we have some stuff we needed to figure out and be closed mouth,” she said in a phone interview.
Mark-Anthony Middleton, the mayor pro tem of the Durham City Council and member of the group, wrote in a letter that the members of the Committee were allegedly “robbed” but wanted to reframe how the PAC is being viewed publicly.
“The PAC is not an out-of-control criminal enterprise that has managed to fool everybody for almost a century. It is, however, an organization that quite honestly has some lessons to learn and apply about best practices concerning internal financial controls,” Middleton wrote
If he thought McKissick was trying to excuse alleged crimes, “I would have personally made the motion to reconsider his election as our leader,” Middleton added.
What happens next?
McKissick is defending the organization’s action on the matter.
“We handled this situation as expeditiously as possible, in a way that will hold a person or persons accountable,” he said. “The minute financial irregularities were discovered, we did what we felt needed to be done to determine the amount, the nature and extent of the financial fraud and irregularities that occurred.”
The SBI did not share any additional information or say when it might finish its investigation.
“The Durham Committee is a victim,” McKissick said. “As a victim, we need to overcome these challenging circumstances and continue providing leadership in Durham in a way that we have over the last 90 years.”
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 7:30 AM.