Beckerdite, 2026 ESD 101
OFFICE OF THE ELECTION SUPERVISOR
for the
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
IN RE: BECKERDITE, ) Protest Decision 2026 ESD 101
BAILEY ) Issued: May 29, 2026
Protestor. )
______________________________) OES Case No. P-136-032726
Bailey Beckerdite filed a protest against Kevin (Wayne) Coats, a candidate on the Armstrong/Gibbs Team 391 Slate in Local 391’s delegate election, alleging that he campaigned inside the Cary Village UPS Towne Center in violation of the 2025-2026 IBT International Union Delegate and Officer Election (the “Rules”).
Felicia Hardesty of the Office of the Election Supervisor (“OES”) investigated this protest.
BACKGROUND & ANALYSIS
Beckerdite alleges that Coats campaigned passing out campaign literature inside the Cary Village UPS Towne Center. She provided two photographs of Wayne coats posing with two members holding up campaign literature. Coats acknowledged that on March 24, 2026, he campaigned before clocking in for his shift at the Cary Towne Center UPS facility. This was the only time that he campaigned during this election cycle at that location.
The allegations raised in this protest arise from the same underlying conduct addressed in Bentley, 2026 ESD 76 (May 6, 2026). In that decision, the Election Supervisor determined that Coats’s campaigning disrupted and materially interfered with the employees’ preloading activity. Thus, the Election Supervisor determined that Coats had violated the Rules. However, because Coats only campaigned for approximately thirty minutes to ten individuals, and because the margin in the delegate election was 422 votes and 389 in the alternate delegate election,[1] the Election Supervisor determined that his campaigning could not have affected the outcome of the election, and denied the protest.
The instant protest does not present any materially new facts or evidence warranting a different result. Accordingly, we incorporate the findings and reasoning set forth in Bentley, 2026 ESD 76 (May 6, 2026) and, for those same reasons, DENY this protest.
APPELLATE RIGHTS
Any interested party not satisfied with this determination may request a hearing before the Election Appeals Master within two (2) working days of receipt of this decision. Any party requesting a hearing must comply with the requirements of Article XIII, Section 2(i). All parties are reminded that, absent extraordinary circumstances, no party may rely in any such appeal upon evidence that was not presented to the Office of the Election Supervisor. Requests for a hearing shall be made in writing, shall specify the basis for the appeal, and shall be served upon:
Election Appeals Master Barbara Jones
Election Appeals Master
IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
Copies of the request for hearing must be served upon the parties, as well as upon the Election Supervisor for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Service may be accomplished by email, using the “reply all” function on the email by which the party received this decision. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing. A copy of the protest must accompany the request for hearing.
Timothy S. Hillman
Election Supervisor
cc: Barbara Jones, IBTappealsmaster@bracewell.com
2026 ESD 101
DISTRIBUTION LIST (BY EMAIL UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE):
Bailey Beckerdite
Kevin Wayne Coats
Rick Armstrong
John Palmer
Richard Hooker
Edward M. Gleason, Jr.,
ed@hsglawgroup.com
James L. Donovan Jr.
David Suetholz
Will Bloom
Ken Paff
Thomas Kokalas
Timothy S. Hillman
Paul Dever
Felicia Hardesty
Emily Balzano
Emily.balzano@nelsonmullins.com
Kelly Hogan
[1] Even factoring in the 35 unresolved challenged ballots and assuming that the losing candidate with the most votes received them all, the margin would be 387 in the delegate election and 354 in the alternate delegate election. Thus, Coats campaigning still could not have affected the outcome.