Restaurant owner tops field in fundraising for Chapel Hill Town Council elections
Political newcomer Elizabeth Sharp is leading the pack in campaign fundraising for the Chapel Hill Town Council race, according to reports recently submitted to the State Board of Elections.
Sharp, co-owner of two restaurants and one of four council candidates running as a slate with Chapel Hill mayoral candidate Adam Searing, raised $19,228 as of Sept. 26, including a $6,500 donation to herself, a report showed. She spent $11,384, mostly on marketing and campaign materials.
Another newcomer, UNC doctoral candidate Theodore Nollert, was second in fundraising, with $18,193. He was followed by newcomers Melissa McCullough with $17,945 and Jon Mitchell with $16,356. Council incumbent Amy Ryan rounded out the top five spots with $16,347 in donations.
None was close to the record-setting donations reported in the race to be Chapel Hill’s next mayor.
Searing led that race in recent campaign finance reports, with $34,857. His challenger, Council member Jess Anderson, had $26,588.
Among Searing’s biggest donors, who also gave to his council slate, were three residents said to possibly be starting a new political action committee that would back Searing and his slate: Sharp, Renuka Soll, Breckany Eckhardt and David Adams.
The new PAC did not form, organizer Julia Grumbles told The Daily Tar Heel for a Sept. 12 article. A Sept. 18 email shared with The News & Observer showed Grumbles shared Chapel Hill resident Don Liner’s email directing neighbors to donate instead to the Chapel Hill Leadership PAC, affiliated with the nonprofit Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town.
PAC, blog supporters key donors
CHL-PAC’s latest finance report shows Susan Moffatt, whom Liner named as a contact in the email, gave $3,000 to CHL-PAC, helping it to its best year since 2015, when the group raised $14,252 to help Mayor Pam Hemminger and Council member Anderson take office.
Other key CHL-PAC donors listed in the report: retired UNC professor Gordon Whitaker, $1,000; retired Duke University professor Edward Marshall, $650; Karl Brumback, Chapel Hill resident and managing director at JLL, a commercial real estate and investment management company, $640; and Blake Brooks, of B2 Architecture and Design in Dallas, Texas, who owns a home near campus, $1,000.
Grumbles and a couple associated with the rumored PAC, Steve Jones and Lisa Jones, gave $357 — the maximum allowed under town rules — to Searing, Sharp, Soll, Adams and Eckhardt. CHALT supporters also contributed large sums to those candidates.
Other candidates, including Nollert, McCullough and Mitchell, god financial support from members of groups that often counter CHALT’s vision for the town — Triangle Blog Blog, NEXT Chapel Hill Carrboro and the NEXT Chapel Hill-Carrboro Action Fund.
The NEXT action fund is a 501(c)4, which means it does not have to report its donors or how much money it raises. However, the group posted a financial statement on its website that it spent about $379 in the 2021 election and could spend about $4,000 this year. Around 60 people had already donated to the group’s political advocacy and candidate endorsement efforts, it said.
Campaign reports showed two NEXT board members, Molly De Marco and Allison De Marco, contributed $100 each this year to council candidate Erik Valera’s campaign.
Triangle Blog Blog, run by a 501(c)4 group called Shameful Nuisance, has over 40 volunteer writers, according to its President Melody Joy Kramer. Several gave to candidates this year, including former NEXT Chapel Hill Carrboro board members and current Shameful Nuisance officers Martin Johnson, who gave $357 to Nollert, and John Rees, who gave $357 each to Valera and McCullough.
Other Shameful Nuisance officers making donations to Nollert and McCullough were Geoffrey Green and Stephen Whitlow. McCullough also donated $357 to Nollert’s campaign, his report showed.
Mitchell also received a $300 donation from CHALT steering committee member Sandra Turbeville.
Early voting in Orange County runs from Oct. 19 to Nov. 4. All of the races on the Nov. 7 ballot are nonpartisan.
See below for more details about the council fundraising reports.
David Adams
Donations under $50: $25
Donations over $50: $11,261
Total receipts: $11,286
Notable donors: Charles Berlin, $357; Gordon Whitaker, $357; Julia Grumbles, $357; Lisa Jones, $357; Steve Jones, $357; Michael Jones, $357; Randall Roden, $357; Susan Moffatt, $357; Charles Humble, $350; Cyrus Hapgood, $350; Julie McClintock, $300; John Morris, $300
Money spent: $5,755
In-Kind donations: $155
Top expenses: $2,555 for yard signs; $1,425 for website design; $1,130 for campaign cards
Money available: $5,531
Breckany Eckhardt
Donations under $50: $520
Donations over $50: $7,479
Total receipts: $8,099
Notable donors: Candidate loans, $1,951; Lisa Jones, $357; Michael Jones, $357; Steve Jones, $357; Randall Roden, $357; Gordon Whitaker, $357; Don Liner, $350; Cyrus Hapgood, $350; Nancy Oates, $350; Julie McClintock, $300; John Morris, $300; Charles Humble, $200; Linda Brown, $30
In-kind donations: None
Money spent: $6,536
Top expenses: $3,179 for yard signs; $2,523 for marketing materials; $584 for T-shirts and flyers
Money available: $1,563
Jeffrey Hoagland
Donations under $50: None
Donations over $50: None
Total receipts: $586 (self-funded)
Notable donors: None
In-kind donations: $60
Money spent: $431
Top expenses: $370 for yard signs; $60 for flyers, postcards and T-shirt
Money available: $155
Melissa McCullough
Donations under $50: $617
Donations over $50: $16,846
Political party committee: $525, N.C. Democratic Party
In-kind donations: $372
Total receipts: $17,945
Notable donors: Graig Meyer, $357; Donna Bell, $357; Penny Rich, $357; Elizabeth Webber, $357; Kym Hunter, $357; Susan Hunter, $357; Michael Parker, $357; John Rees, $357; Geoffrey Green, $250; Josh Gurlitz, $250; Robin Gurlitz, $250; Mark Kleinschmidt, $250; Mark Marcoplos, $250; Stephen Whitlow, $200; Camille Berry, $100; Karen Stegman, $100; candidate Melissa McCullough, $6,000
Money spent: $11,380
Top expenses: $4,500, website design; $1,150, campaign manager; $825, campaign field assistant; $525, N.C. Democratic Party Votebuilder campaign organizing platform
Money available: $6,565
Jon Mitchell
Donations under $50: $418
Donations over $50: $15,413
Political party committee: $525, N.C. Democratic Party
Total receipts: $16,356
Notable donors: $8,362 (self); Monte Brown, $357; Susan Lyons, $357; Sandra Turbeville, $300; Sue Hunter, $200; Mark kleinschmidt, $100; Camille Berry, $57
In-kind donations: $8,885
Money spent: $9,069
Top expenses: $5,100 for marketing services, logo and website design; $2,193 for yard signs; $679 for brochures and T-shirts; $525, N.C. Democratic Party campaign organizing platform
Money available: $7,287
Theodore Nollert
Donations under $50: $2,337
Donations over $50: $15,331
Political party committee: $525, N.C. Democratic Party
In-kind donations: $978
Total receipts: $18,193
Notable donors: Nida Allam, $357; Chris Carini, $357; Gary Crunkleton, $357; Chuck Garrison, $357; Martin Johnson, $357; Melissa McCullough, $357; Jane Stein, $357; Leonard Wood, $357; Mark Kleinschmidt, $300; George Cianciolo, $200; Pam Hemminger, $200; Gordon Merklein, $200; Michael Parker, $200; Geoffrey Green, $150; Cait Fenhagen, $100; Sally Greene, $100; Barry Jacobs, $100; Karen Stegman, $100; Stephen Whitlow, $100
Money spent: $6,997
Top expenses: $3,423 for mailers; $1,888 for yard signs; $357 for food and drinks
Money available: $11,196
Amy Ryan
Donations under $50: $1,448
Donations over $50: $13,499
Total receipts: $16,501
Notable donors: Candidate, $1,400 loan; Thomas Bernthal, $357; Sheryl Sandberg, $357; Monte Brown, $357; Pam Hemminger, $357; Scott Levitan, $357; Phil Lyons, $357; Susan Lyons, $357; Buffie Webber, $357; Bradley Hemminger, $350; Michael Parker, $250; Jamezetta Bedford, $200; Jeanette Bench, $200; Brian Whittmayer, $200; Amy Fowler, $189.02; Anthony Carey, $100
In-kind donations: $202
Money spent: $10,940
Top expenses: $1,993 for yard signs; $266 for rack cards; $207 for Mailchimp email system
Money available: $5,562
Elizabeth Sharp
Donations under $50: $599
Donations over $50: $18,630
In-kind donations: $155
Total receipts: $19,228
Notable donors: Mimi Hock, $357; Julia Grumbles, $357; Lisa Jones, $357; Steve Jones, $357; Michael Jones, $357; Susan Moffatt, $357; Randall Roden, $357; Thomas Ross, $357; Gordon Whitaker, $357; Andrew Blass, $350; Danielle Blass, $350; Cyrus Hapgood, $350; Don Liner, $350; Nancy Oates, $350; Julie McClintock, $300; John Morris, $300; Charles Humble, $200; Joseph Patterson, $200; Edward Marshall, $180; Taylor Gilland, $150; Jeff Nieman, $104; Vimala Rajendran, $100; candidate Elizabeth Sharp, $6,500
Money spent: $11,384
Top expenses: $8,618, advertising and marketing materials; $1,100, website; $652, T-shirts; $450, software
Money available: $7,844
Renuka Soll
Donations under $50: $786
Donations over $50: $11,846
Total receipts: $14,143
Notable donors: Julia Grumbles, $357; Lisa Jones, $357; Steve Jones, $357; Michael Jones, $357; Susan Moffatt, $357; Cyrus Hapgood, $350; Don Liner, $350; Kirsten Boucher, $300; Edward Marshall, $300; Julie McClintock, $300; John Morris, $300; Charles Berlin, $250; Charles Humble, $200; Vimala Rajendran, $100; Linda Brown, $75
In-kind donations: $155
Money spent: $6,446
Top expenses: $2,214 for yard signs; $1,701 for postcards; $1,050 for website and mailer design
Money available: $7,697
Erik Valera
Donations under $50: $508
Donations over $50: $5,464
Political party committee: $525, N.C. Democratic Party
Total receipts: $6,497
Notable donors: $550 (self); Sue Hunter, $357; John Rees, $357; Eliazar Posada, $200; Camille Berry, $100; Allison De Marco, $100; Molly De Marco, $100
In-kind donations: $672
Money spent: $5,537
Top expenses: $3,220 for hand cards and yard signs; $525, N.C. Democratic Party Votebuilder campaign organizing platform; $166 for ActBlue service fee
Money available: $960
