Raleigh mayor McFarlane bets big on some council races

With the entire Raleigh City Council up for election, some candidates are donating to each other as they push for a like-minded majority on the council.

With municipal races set for Tuesday’s voting day, council candidates’ donations to other candidates offer a look at who’s aligned with whom, and how they are working to keep alliances in place. Mayor Nancy McFarlane leads the field of 18 candidates in donating to her favorites, as she and husband Ron have given a total of nearly $30,000 to three incumbents and two newcomers.

The McFarlanes are pharmacists who made millions running their company, MedPro Rx.

They donated the most money – more than $14,000 – to incumbent Kay Crowder, who’s running to represent District D. This is Crowder’s first campaign for council after being appointed to her seat last fall following the death of her husband, former councilman Thomas Crowder. Crowder faces political newcomer Ashton Smith.

McFarlane donated $4,000 to incumbent councilman Russ Stephenson, who’s running for one of two at-large seats against incumbent councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin and challengers Matt Tomasulo and Craig Ralph. She also donated $2,500 to incumbent Bonner Gaylord, who’s running for re-election in District E.

McFarlane’s husband, Ron, gave $3,000 to Corey Branch, who’s challenging longtime District C representative Eugene Weeks. McFarlane said in an interview Sunday that her husband’s contribution doesn’t represent her views.

“I have not taken a stand in that,” she said, referring to the race. “I don’t tell (Ron) what to do.”

McFarlane has been most public about her support for District A candidate Dickie Thompson, who’s running in this year’s most expensive council race.

Thompson and his two challengers, J.B. Buxton and Eddie Woodhouse, have raised $219,209 this election cycle. Thompson raised $36,979, the smallest amount of all three candidates. But he is generously supported by McFarlane and her supporters.

The McFarlanes gave Thompson a total of $11,600. Crowder and Raleigh real-estate magnate Greg Hatem each gave $1,000 to Thompson’s campaign, while prominent liberal activist Dean Debnam donated $2,000.

McFarlane’s image also appears on Thompson’s campaign materials next to quotes praising him. McFarlane doesn’t consider her support for the candidates unusual. She supports them because they’re “thoughtful decision makers” – not because they need extra help to win the seat, she said.

“They asked and I’m happy to support them,” she said. “I don’t know what to expect. All the races are hard to call.”

McFarlane’s support for Thompson has drawn criticism from backers of his opponents. The Wake County Republican Party, which endorsed Woodhouse, accuses McFarlane of wanting to make Thompson “her puppet.”

“Thompson will be McFarlane’s rubber stamp,” said Charles Hellwig, Wake GOP spokesman.

Thompson, for his part, said he was “honored” to have McFarlane’s support.

“She agrees with me that we need to plan for the future and continue to bring good jobs and economic development to the city,” Thompson said in an email.

Bars’ influence

Outside of McFarlane, few candidates have given money to each other.

Stephenson received $500 from Thompson and David Cox, who’s running against incumbent John Odom in District B. Stephenson also gave $100 to Matt Tomasulo, one of his at-large opponents.

At-large councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin gave $1,500 to councilman Eugene Weeks, who’s seeking re-election in District C.

Campaign finance reports show that Weeks is the only candidate to whom Baldwin donated, contrary to attack ads launched last week that suggest she’s tied to Smith and Tomasulo. The ads say she pushed them to run.

Baldwin said the ads are completely false and many candidates decried them, saying they have “no place” in the Raleigh election. The ads were paid for by Wake Citizens for Good Government, a political action committee chaired by Debnam, who supports Stephenson in the at-large race.

Debnam said the ads were meant to level the political playing field after bar and restaurants gained a “disproportionate” amount of influence on the council races.

Many bar and restaurant owners in the downtown Raleigh area became involved in the election after a five-member City Council majority in August approved new restrictions on bars and restaurants in downtown Raleigh.

Supportive council members said they were responding to complaints from some downtown residents who said downtown was too loud, too crowded and too drunken.

Baldwin, along with Weeks and District E representative Bonner Gaylord voted against the change. They said they opposed the rules because the service cutoff times hurt businesses too much and aren’t effective in reducing crowd noise.

But Weeks and Gaylord aren’t mentioned in the attack ads.

This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Raleigh mayor McFarlane bets big on some council races."