Donors flocked to Jefferson near campaign's end

Feb. 3—HIGH POINT — Donors broke heavily for the campaign of High Point Mayor Cyril Jefferson in the final days of last fall's municipal election.

His 2023 year-end campaign finance report filed Thursday with the North Carolina State Board of Elections shows that his campaign raised $32,504 from about 60 donors after Oct. 23.

Jefferson won the Nov. 7 mayor's race over Victor Jones 7,322 votes to 5,808 votes, or 56% to 44%. Jones reported only three donors who gave $3,000 during the same period.

Jefferson's campaign reported $125,295 in donations during the entire election cycle, while Jones' final fundraising tally was $84,383.

In the days before the election, Jefferson landed donations from fellow City Council members Monica Peters ($250) and Michael Holmes ($500).

Other first-time donors to his campaign during this period included former High Point mayors Bill Bencini ($500) and Bernita Sims ($200), High Point by Design Director Jane Dagmi ($250), Earl's Landing restaurant owner Anthony Kearey ($2,000), High Point NAACP President Elma Hairston ($100), Guilford County Clerk of Court Lisa Johnson-Tonkins ($100), Guilford County Commissioner Frankie Jones ($150) and the NC Realtors political action committee ($1,000).

Two of the top donors to Jefferson's campaign gave the maximum amount allowed per election of $6,400 during this period: developer Lenny Peters and Carolina Core FC professional soccer team co-owner Matt Penley, who gave the same amount during the primary election.

That made Penley the top individual donor to Jefferson's overall campaign, at $12,800.

His brother and fellow Carolina Core FC co-owner Mark Penley contributed $5,000 during the final election push, which made him the second-largest donor to Jefferson's overall campaign, at $10,000. Peters contributed a total of $8,400 to Jefferson's campaign throughout the election cycle.

Three Carolina Core FC executives contributed to Jefferson's campaign in the days preceding the election: team President Andy Smith ($500), Chief Operating Officer Evan Mitz ($500) and Chief Revenue Officer Chris Baretta ($250).

All three also gave to Jefferson's campaign at other points in the election cycle, for a total of $450 from Baretta, $1,966 from Mitz and $1,965 from Smith.

Jefferson was a member of the Carolina Core FC board of directors from April 2022 to November 2023, according to his LinkedIn page.

The team will begin play this spring at Truist Point stadium in High Point following a $6 million renovation by the city to accommodate professional soccer.

Jefferson's campaign spent $124,166 throughout the election cycle and $68,334 in the final two weeks of the campaign, according to the year-end report.

Among the expenditures were social media ads through Google and Facebook, campaign mailers, TV and newspaper advertising, campaign meetings and events and $15,548 to campaign consultant Brandon Lenoir.