‘Fiscal Responsibility’ Congressman Plans to Stiff Two-Dozen Campaign Creditors

As a congressional candidate, former Rep. Robert Pittenger, a North Carolina Republican, promised “fiscal responsibility” and a conservative approach to government finances.

But the ex-congressman’s old campaign committee still owes creditors hundreds of thousands of dollars — and does not plan to ever pay them back.

That’s according to a Pittenger filed last week with the Federal Election Commission. The Pittenger committee owes about $726,000 in total across 24 creditors, according to a federal financial statement.

The financial document indicates that as of June 19, the committee has no remaining funds.

A line in the document reading “Total Amount to be Paid to Creditors” is left blank, indicating the committee does not plan to pay its debt. Line items for proposed payments to individual creditors are likewise listed as “$0.”

The FEC can choose to approve or deny the Pittenger committee’s debt repayment plan, which if approved, would allow Pittenger to terminate his committee once and for all.

Neither Pittenger nor his campaign committee’s treasurer returned NOTUS’ request for comment.

The Pittenger campaign’s largest debt, of $591,700, is to himself, although Pittenger forgave loans he made to the committee using personal funds, per the report.

The Pittenger campaign’s next largest debts are owed to:

High Cotton Consulting (which was acquired by Axiom Strategies in 2017): $28,000.01
Public Opinion Strategies: $25,250
Chatham Light Media: $14,510
Crosby Ottenhoff Group: $14,187.81

These creditors did not return requests for comment.

Pittenger’s campaign also owes $9,333 to Capitol Communications, a North Carolina-based political consulting firm run by Paul Shumaker.

When asked by NOTUS about Pittenger’s debt, Shumaker said he didn’t know the former congressman’s campaign committee even owed him the cash.

“He must be good at recordkeeping.”

Pittenger, who represented North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019, joins a host of other also-ran federal political candidates who have failed to pay off significant campaign debts, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and former presidential candidates Al Sharpton, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

Pittenger left office after losing the Republican primary to Rep. Mark Harris in 2018. Harris now represents North Carolina’s 8th District.

While in Congress, Pittenger led a bipartisan effort in 2013 calling on Democratic and Republican leaders to address the national debt. He also served on the House Financial Services committee.