Baldwin has more than $500,000 on hand headed into Raleigh mayor’s race this fall
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin has more than $500,000 in campaign cash headed into the 2022 election.
Campaign finance reports aren’t due for over a week, but Baldwin’s numbers are in and show she’s raised $623,754 in contributions since the start of the election cycle.
She’s spent more than $131,000 so far this election season, giving her plenty of cash to use before the Nov. 8 election.
More than $164,444 was raised in the first half of 2022.
“I worked really hard to do it,” Baldwin said. “I think it shows that we have support from all areas of the city. And I really believe too it’s an indication that people think we’re headed in the right direction. “
“Obviously, if people were dissatisfied, they would not be donating to my campaign,” she said. “And I feel really good about what we’re able to achieve.”
More than 30 people donated $5,600, the maximum allowed, according to campaign finance records.
Some of Baldwin’s top donors include former Raleigh Mayors Nancy McFarlane and Smedes York, developers John Kane, Michael Fallon, Carlton Midyette III, Tomas Gipson, Gabriel Guillois and O. Temple Sloan Jr. and Capitol Broadcasting Company CEO Jim Goodmon.
Running for mayor in Raleigh has historically been expensive.
In 2019, three candidates, including Baldwin raised over $100,000 each. And in 2017, McFarlane and challenger Charles Francis raised more than $500,000 combined. Going back further, more than a $1 million was spent by four candidates seeking the mayor’s seat in 1999.
And nearly a $1 million was spent two years later when former Mayor Charles Meeker tried to unseat incumbent Paul Coble, according The News & Observer.
But Raleigh candidates will face a new challenge this year, campaigning in an even-numbered election year alongside partisan local, state and national candidates. The Raleigh City Council made the controversial decision to move its election after a delay in redistricting data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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“Part of the reason for that [change] was voter turnout,” Baldwin said. “We had 13% turnout the last election, and we believe that turnout could be six times the amount than it was in 2019. I think that’s a real positive thing. And it’s good for democracy. It also gives more people a voice. But also there is that reality, that it’s more expensive to communicate with the voters.”
Filing ended last week for the City Council’s eight seats, including the mayoral seat. All the races are nonpartisan.
Baldwin is running against Terrance Ruth and DaQuanta Copeland.
Ruth hasn’t filed his semi-annual report for the first half of 2022, but he reported raising $26,563 with $6,867 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2021.
Copeland has no campaign finance records listed in the N.C. State of Elections database.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
