Chatham district attorney discloses campaign donations after deadline, ethics complaint

Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones has filed her campaign donation report five days after a state deadline and after a local lawyer filed an ethics complaint against her.

The development is the latest round of an increasingly acrimonious campaign that pits Cook Jones, a Democrat, against Republican challenger Andre Pretorius for the position of Chatham County’s top prosecutor.

Both candidates in the county’s most-watched race voted early on Wednesday.

According to the Oct. 12 filing, donations to Cook Jones’ campaign between July and September amounted to around $17,500. In comparison, Pretorius reported approximately $256,000 in individual donations during the time frame.

Cook Jones did not respond to requests for comment about her filing. It appears that she still has not filed her personal finance disclosure, which is legally required for candidates in order to show personal income and assets.

The incumbent district attorney’s most recent donor list included Savannah-based lawyers, pastor and state civil rights leader Francys Johnson, two political action committees representing Savannah labor unions and Judith Weiss, president of the Samuel Rubin Foundation — a Massachusetts nonprofit that supports human rights and social justice causes.

Pretorius’ campaign funders included several local lawyers as well as some of Chatham County’s wealthiest individuals and powerful local Republicans, The Current previously reported.

Cook Jones addressed Pretorius’ donors in an Oct. 15 email to supporters, which The Current obtained. She wrote that Pretorius’ donors are using their wealth to influence local government.

“(They) support my opponent for one reason, and one reason only: so that they can regain control over the District Attorney power seat in the Chatham County courthouse,” Cook Jones wrote. “For them this race is about economics and it comes down to dollars and cents. But dollars don’t vote, people do!”

Pretorius says those funding his campaign come from a broad swath of the community, and that he is optimistic about winning the election.

“With early voting underway, we are focusing on reaching voters and are appreciative of the broad support we have received, as well as the positive reception our message is having with voters in Chatham County,” he told The Current in a text message.