An attack from Derek Chen, a political newcomer and challenger for the state's auditor position, recently garnered a fierce response from the incumbent, Andrew Sorrell, ahead of the May 19 primary.
Sorrell is seeking reelection by winning the Republican primary on Tuesday. Chen, a California native born to Taiwanese immigrants, has hit the pavement in recent months to secure the seat, raising massive political donations and appearing at dozens of events.
This week, Chen's camp aired a negative TV ad accusing Sorrell of being disloyal to President Donald Trump and referencing an occasion when Sorrell returned campaign contributions from a man later accused of operating a financial scheme.
"Alabama's state auditor is supposed to be our watchdog against fraud, but Andrew Sorrell wasn't watching out for us," the ad said. "He was busy taking $70,000 from a massive, Madoff-like Ponzi scheme. Worse, Andrew Sorrell attacked and campaigned against President Trump, saying 'Trump is a drag on the ticket and would lose to Biden again."
The fraud in question occurred last year, when prolific, Georgia-based GOP donor Brant Frost IV was accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, in which the SEC said he had defrauded his clients of $140 million.
Frost poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of well-known conservatives in the state, including Sorrell. Sorrell was doubly defrauded, both as a recipient of the contributions and as an investor in Frost's fund. He then returned the campaign contributions.
"It's important that all recovered money goes back to the investors so everyone can be made whole rather than to the individual who defrauded us," Sorrell said at the time.
In response, Sorrell released an ad of his own, this time featuring his wife slamming Chen.
"My husband's opponent has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars smearing his good name," she said. "They lie about him, because they can't attack his record: reducing waste, strengthening election integrity, and holding state government accountable. And who's attacking him? An unemployed 28-year-old who's spent most of his life in Southern California.
Sorrell then added, "My opponent has to go negative because he's never accomplished anything himself."
Chen has had a prodigious fundraising effort this election cycle, collecting over $500,000 in contributions, many of which are from himself. He also received many out-of-state contributions, including $130,000 from Kathy Liu, $60,000 from Chyi Chen, and $30,000 from Caleb Chen, all from California.
Chen responded to Sorrell's ad by doubling down on his criticism.
"Alabama taxpayers deserve a State Auditor with sound judgment that can be depended on to protect our tax dollars, state property, and hold Montgomery accountable," Chen said. "My opponent wants to talk about records. His record proves he is completely unfit to manage anyone's money, especially Alabama taxpayers' money."
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