Mark Lowery is either a very good grifter or very bad at money… or both. Should someone with a fraught financial past be our next State Treasurer?
Magician Mark’s finance acumen at a glance:
- two bankruptcies
- missing carryover funds
- ethics violations
- embezzlement accusations
- missing financial disclosures
Yes, this is the guy RUNNING FOR STATE TREASURER. According to ballotpedia, the State Treasurer is ”the chief financial officer of the government of Arkansas. The treasurer acts as the state’s bank, accepting deposits in the form of taxes and fees, and disbursing funds to state agencies based on warrants from the auditor’s office.” Mark Lowery and the State Treasurer office seem like a match made in hell.
Need some proof? The Arkansas Times recently provided a timeline of Lowery’s exceptional money mishandling:
We’d like to know how Magician Mark managed to lose $18,347 in carryover funds from his State House race to his Treasurer race. At the close of reporting for 2020, Lowery listed $58,346.94 in leftover funds from his State House race. If candidates have money left in the bank after an election, many will carry over these funds to their next election. In Mark’s case, the carry over went to his bid for State Treasurer. When Lowery filed for State Treasurer, he reported $40,000 in carryover funds from his House race, not $58,246.94. What happened to the missing $18k?
Additionally, there was a hot minute when Lowery ran for Secretary of State in which he fumbled those financial disclosures. The Arkansas Ethics Commission decided to take up Lowery’s reporting blunders after a complaint was filed against Lowery. Mark was able to skirt the carryover fund issue; however, the commission did not let him off the hook for failure to disclose financial reports for his Secretary of State bid.
Mark’s disappearing money act has been going on for quite some time. Back when Lowery first ran for State House, he was the debate team coach for UCA. Rumors are that Lowery mishandled the team’s finances. We’ve reached out to several people involved but cannot yet confirm details. What we know for certain is things ended poorly between Mark and UCA, with Lowery filing suit against the university. In fact, Magician Mark has become quite fond of using the court system when things don’t go his way. Misuse personal money? File bankruptcy! Misuse public money? Sue a university! Misuse campaign money? Say you have bad eyesight! (Not a legal maneuver but still pretty creative).
It’s clear Mark Lowery is very bad with finances. What’s also clear is Mark Lowery uses the legal system to get out of financial liability. It’s quite the magic act, and we’re begging Arkansas voters to remember that Lowery’s financial “experience” is just that: an illusion.
