Charleston County mailboxes have been filling up over the last few weeks with glossy flyers urging residents to call and thank incumbent school board members up for reelection — but the group paying for them isn't based anywhere near Charleston. It's registered more than 500 miles away in Nashville, Tennessee, and it won't say who's actually funding the campaign.
The mailers were sent by Excellence for Charleston Students, a Tennessee-based nonprofit that highlighted the accomplishments of incumbent trustees Keith Grybowski, Carlotte Bailey and Leah Whatley, according to WCIV. All three are seeking reelection to the Charleston County School Board, a body that is supposed to function, per The Post and Courier, as a nonpartisan steward of the district's governance and finances. The flyers themselves stop short of explicitly telling anyone how to vote, the station's report notes.
Excellence for Charleston Students filed its charter with the Tennessee secretary of state's office on May 7, with Jessica Darby listed as the nonprofit's incorporator, per the same account. The group's principal office and mailing address match that of Political Financial Management in Nashville, where Darby is a partner. It's chartered as a non-religious mutual benefit corporation, stating its purpose as promoting civic engagement, public education awareness and community outreach tied to public education in Charleston — while being restricted from primarily engaging in political campaign activity for or against any candidate.
A Shared PO Box and a Separate PAC
Excellence for Charleston Students lists a post office box in Charleston's 29417 ZIP code, the same box used by Charleston Students First, a political action committee, the station's report notes. Unlike its nonprofit neighbor, Charleston Students First sent mailers explicitly urging voters to back Stuart Day and Karen Luhrs — candidates in separate races from the three incumbents touted by Excellence for Charleston Students.
Day, a civil engineer and father of three children in district schools, is running in District 3, according to The Post and Courier. That seat is open because board chair Pamela McKinney announced she's not seeking reelection, as she's moving outside the district; Joseph Bennett, Bethany Nemitz and Tressa Pankovits are also in that race, per the same account. Luhrs, meanwhile, will face incumbent trustee Carol Tempel in District 9, the station's report states.
Tennessee Ties to Gov. Bill Lee's Political Network
Jason Baker and Darby, the partners behind Political Financial Management, both worked on Gov. Bill Lee's first campaign and subsequent inauguration, according to the station. Baker also worked on Lee's 2022 reelection bid. Political Financial Management has provided accounting services for political campaigns tied to the Tennessee Republican Party, U.S. House Rep. Tim Burchett, Lee and the Mississippi Republican Party, per the same report.
Baker and Darby also founded Powered by Education, described as a pro-school-choice advocacy group focused on Tennessee that aims to expand nationwide. Darby additionally works as director of special projects for the Poplar Group, which has offices in Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina. The two attended the Republican midterm convention in Dallas in September, the station's report notes. Neither responded to attempts to contact them by phone and email, according to the outlet.
No Paper Trail to the Candidates Themselves
Campaign filings reviewed for the report show Grybowski, Bailey and Whatley disclosed no expenditures tied to Political Financial Management or the Poplar Group, and received no contributions from anyone associated with either firm. Tennessee business records also show Political Financial Management does not appear as registered agent for any other similarly named nonprofits like Excellence for Charleston Students, per the same account. Attempts to reach Grybowski, Bailey and Whatley by phone were also unsuccessful, the station reports.
The three incumbents have faced the endorsement question before. Moms for Liberty endorsed Grybowski, Bailey and Whatley when they were first elected in 2022. Whatley has previously told News 4 she did not seek endorsements this cycle, while Grybowski told the Charleston City Paper he sought no Moms for Liberty endorsement in either 2022 or this year's race.
Why Nonprofit Status Keeps Donors Hidden
Because Excellence for Charleston Students was organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, it isn't required to disclose its donors on its 990 tax form, the station's report explains. OpenSecrets has said people receiving political messages paid for by undisclosed sources may not know the credibility or motives of whoever is actually funding them. Some Charleston County voters have also received text messages in recent weeks that didn't disclose who authorized or paid for them, per the same report.
This isn't the first time outside money has shaped a Charleston school board race. The Charleston Coalition for Kids, a separate 501(c)(4) nonprofit, spent more than $306,000 on television advertising for a prior board race after spending at least $235,000 on TV ads before the 2018 election, according to The Post and Courier. That group's donors and total fundraising were never disclosed in South Carolina campaign-finance records, and all four board members it endorsed in 2018 went on to win. Former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley even appeared in one of its television ads.
South Carolina law requires candidates to file an initial campaign-finance report once they raise or spend a combined $500, including personal funds, loans and the filing fee, according to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission. Campaign-disclosure forms for candidates and committees can be viewed through the commission's Online Public Disclosure and Accountability Reporting System. Charleston County voters will decide races in districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 on Nov. 3, with Char Fitzwater and Mark Little challenging Grybowski in District 1, Libby Tisdale opposing Bailey in District 5, and Francis Beylotte, Joy Brown and Darryl Ray Griffin facing Whatley in District 7.
