Home · Politics · Oct 29 archive
LaKesha Womack Hit With Felony Summons at Campaign Event
Confirmed
In Short: Democratic candidate LaKesha Womack was served with a felony summons while at a campaign event in Polk County, North Carolina, on October 11.
Womack, who is running for North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, said she was confronted by police about a felony charge related to failing to pay for a rental car in 2019.
According to Womack, she was not expecting the summons and was surprised by the police's knowledge of her car and location.
The original summons was issued in January 2020 but was not successfully delivered to Womack until her recent campaign stop.
Under North Carolina law, if Womack willfully failed to return the rental car, she could face a Class H felony, which carries a potential prison sentence of up to 39 months and possible fines.
Womack's campaign event was disrupted by the unexpected summons, highlighting the potential legal challenges candidates face during election season.
The incident occurred amid a broader context of campaign strategies, including soliciting donations from out-of-state contributors and aggressive campaigning tactics.
In other campaign news, Alaska’s Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and her family suffered minor injuries in a car crash while driving to a campaign stop.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton criticized Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico for an 11-day absence from the campaign trail during President Donald Trump’s rally in San Antonio.
What this adds
The felony summons incident adds to the legal challenges candidates face during election campaigns.
The summons was issued in 2019 but was not successfully delivered until Womack's recent campaign stop.
The incident highlights the unexpected legal hurdles candidates can encounter while on the campaign trail.
Background
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar is set to appear at a campaign event with controversial streamer Hasan Piker on Monday night, despite mounting opposition from fellow Minnesota Democrats.
What's confirmed
- A Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House of Representatives said she is facing criminal charges and that she was hit with a police summons while at her own campaign event this month.
What's still developing
- LaKesha Womack is running for Congress in North Carolina's 14th Congressional District, challenging incumbent Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C. (LaKesha Womack campaign) "I didn't post that I was gonna be in Polk County, but they knew exactly what car I was driving. And as soon as I parked, they pulled up behind me and served my papers with my address from 2019. So, y'all hadn't looked for me in the past seven years, but now all of a sudden, you know exactly what car I drive and where I'm going to be," Womack said.
- 📲 Get the latest on the midterms & more in the NPR App In key U.S. Senate races this year, candidates are soliciting donations from outside of their home states, and their out-of-state messaging is different from what they're running locally.
- "Even if you're only yielding like a $5 or $10 contribution from someone like the costs of soliciting that are so much lower than they used to be, that it makes it worthwhile."
- Tim Moore (R-NC) said in a Facebook video she was confronted by police about felony charges related to failure to pay for a rental car in 2019 when she arrived to a campaign event in Polk County, N.C., on Oct.
- Although Becerra holds a comfortable lead in the solidly Democratic state, according to recent opinion polls, Hilton has aggressively attacked the veteran Democratic official as an “empty suit” who would bend to special interests in Sacramento.
- Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- “We should not be playing games with national security.” In his 34-page resolution, Massie argued that Hegseth has repeatedly abused the powers of his office in leading the US war with Iran, including carrying out unlawful orders and continuing to keep troops deployed without authorization from Congress.
- Former President Barack Obama in a campaign rally in Cleveland Saturday said hotly contested races in Ohio provide Democrats a direct avenue to try to halt the agenda of President Donald Trump over the next two years.
- Ohio, once considered a "swing state" that went for Obama in the 2012 national presidential election, has become decidedly less purple since Trump's first run for office in 2016.
- And it played last Wednesday before Hegseth addressed 600 service members in his State of the Force speech at the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events President Donald Trump said Monday night that he will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for a multimillion-dollar pro-Trump ad blitz ahead of the midterm elections, saying his super PAC will now pay for them.
- The unpredictability of the college hoops campaign means there will be a few swings and misses, but Norlander's assessment of the top 101 teams in the land is an excellent starting point as we gear up for Sunday's season opener between Notre Dame and Villanova.
- The teams are placed into four tiers from national title hopefuls to Final Four contenders and from Sweet 16 candidates to at-large and bubble candidates.