Chapel Hill sets fundraising record in town elections. How the candidates stack up.

Chapel Hill candidates on are track to raise a quarter-million dollars in races to choose a new mayor and fill four Town Council seats Tuesday, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Local political action committees have injected another $26,450 into the campaign season, reports submitted to the State Board of Elections show, and a downtown resident also filed a report after spending money to support mayoral candidate Adam Searing and a four-person council slate.

Searing, who was elected in 2021, is running against fellow Council member Jessica Anderson, now in her third four-year term in office. The winner of the Nov. 7 election will replace outgoing Mayor Pam Hemminger in December.

This year’s race has set new fundraising records, including in the mayor’s race, where over $82,000 was raised as of Oct. 23, the reports show. That surpasses $66,000-plus raised by Hemminger and her challenger, former Council member Hongbin Gu, in the 2021 mayoral race.

Searing had raised $41,862 as of Oct. 23, and spent $35,556, his report showed. Over a third of his spending paid a campaign manager’s salary. He reported having $6,306 two weeks before the election.

▪ Searing’s top donors: 35 gave $357, the maximum individual donation that town rules allow. Three donors gave $300 to $350.

▪ Notable names: $357 donors included Vimala Rajendran, Thaddeus Moore, Dwight DeBree, Julia Grumbles, William Grumbles, Paula Gilland, Taylor Gilland, Gordon Whitaker, Richard Allison, Susan Allison, Charles Berlin, Lisa Jones, Michael Jones, and Steven Jones. DeBree, a business owner and director of a software company with connections to the sports and entertainment industry, also filed a state Independent Expenditure report after spending $533 to advocate for Searing and his council slate.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board candidate Jane Gabin gave $200, and Julie McClintock, founder of Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town (CHALT), gave $350.

Anderson had raised a total of $40,223. Her top expenses were $1,793 for supplies from Staples, $1,590 for T-shirts, and $1,025 for rack cards. She reported having $21,649 on hand as of Oct. 23.

▪ Anderson’s top donors: 37 gave the maximum amount, including residential real estate professionals and venture capital investors, while seven gave $300 or more.

▪ Notable names: Donors giving $357 each included Hemminger, P.H. Craig, Jamil Kadoura, Jim Kitchen, Simon George, Gregg, Gina and Joe Ireland, Jason Klaitman, candidates Melissa McCullough and Jon Mitchell, James Parrott, and Antoine Puech. Other notable donors were Brad Hemminger, $350; Andrea Reusing, $250; Scott Radway, $150; and Mark Kleinschmidt, $100.

Town Council funding reports

Council members Michael Parker and Tai Huynh are not seeking another term, and Anderson’s term will end, which means at least three new members will join the council. Ten candidates — incumbent Council member Amy Ryan and nine challengers — are on the ballot.

Challengers Theodore Nollert and Elizabeth Sharp continued to lead in fundraising, with Nollert moving into the top position in October. The candidates, in order of the most money raised, are:

▪ Theodore Nollert: $26,272 raised and $10,461 spent.

Eighteen donors gave $357, including Manish Atma, Carrboro Town Council candidate Catherine Fray, Neil Kapadia, Nida Allam, Chris Carini, Gary Crunkleton, Chuck Garrison, Martin Johnson, fellow candidate McCullough, and Jane Stein.

Other notable donors include: Mary Leadbetter, $300; Parker, $300; Mark Kleinschmidt, $300; Josh Gurlitz, $250; George Cianciolo, $200; Pam Hemminger, $200; Gordon Merklein, $200; Rebecca Mormino, $199.99; and Geoffrey Green, $150. $100 donors included Sally Greene, Barry Jacobs, Karen Stegman, Stephen Whitlow, Damon Seils, Penny Rich, and Anthony Carey.

▪ Elizabeth Sharp: $23,519 raised and $18,584 spent.

Nineteen donors gave $357, including DeBree, Moore, Mimi Hock, Julia Grumbles, Susan Moffatt, Gordon Whitaker, Lisa Jones, Steve Jones, Michael Jones, and Derek and Louise Winstanly. Other notable donors include Nancy Oates, McClintock and husband John Morris, $300, Charles Humble, $200; Taylor Gilland, $150; Jeff Nieman, $104; and Rajendran, $100

▪ Melissa McCullough: $21,056 raised and $12,230 spent, including $4,500 for website design.

Fourteen donors gave $357, including Craig, Fray, Graig Meyer, Kym Hunter, Donna Bell, Rich, Susan Hunter, Parker, and John Rees. Other notable donors include Geoffrey Green, $250; Josh Gurlitz, $250; Robin Gurlitz, $250; Kleinschmidt, $250; Mark Marcoplos, $250; Whitlow, $200; Council member Camille Berry, $115; and Stegman, $100.

▪ Jon Mitchell: $20,385 raised and $17,462 spent, including $5,100 for marketing services, logo and website design.

Eighteen donors gave $357, including Atma, Adam and Beth Goldstein, Klaitman, Hemminger, Monte Brown, and Susan Lyons. Other notable donors include Sandra Turbeville, $300; Kleinschmidt, $100; and Berry, $57.

▪ Renuka Soll: $16,054 raised and $14,343 spent, including $7,048 for postcards and postage.

Thirteen donors gave $357, including DeBree; Moore; Rajendran; the Winstanlys, Grumbles, Moffatt, and Lisa, Steve and Michael Jones. Other notable donors include Don Liner, $350; Edward Marshall, $300; McClintock, $300; Morris, $300; Berlin, $250; Humble, $200; and former Mayor Kevin Foy, $50.

▪ David Adams: $14,483 raised and $11,373 spent, including $4,216 for printing and mailing.

Eight donors gave $357, including DeBree, Moore, the Winstanlys, Moffatt, Berlin, Whitaker, Grumbles, and the Jones family. Other notable donors include Humble, $350; and McClintock and Morris, $300.

▪ Breckany Eckhardt: $10,980 raised and $9,904 spent, including $6,994 on campaign mailers.

Nine donors gave $357, including DeBree, Moore, the Winstanlys, Whitaker, and the Jones family. Other notable donors include Oates, $350; and McClintock and Morris, $300 each.

▪ Erik Valera: $9,798 raised and $5,761 spent, including $3,360 for palm cards.

Seven donors gave $357, including Atma, Kapadia, Puech, attorney Patrick Byker, and Hunter. Other notable donors were L. Russell Ranson III and Carrboro Council member Eliazar Posada, $200; and Parker, Berry, and Allison and Molly De Marco, $100 each.

▪ Jeffrey Hoagland: $696 raised and $444 spent, including $370 for yard signs. He is largely self-funded, with no donors giving over $50.