Unprecedented sums of campaign cash have poured into this year’s race for Burlington’s mayor, as city councilman and former mayor Ronnie Wall squares off against second-time mayoral candidate Beth Kennett for the right to succeed the city’s outgoing mayor Jim Butler.
The scramble over this post has been particularly intense ever since Butler made a surprise announcement in early July that he wouldn’t seek reelection this year. This decision was a significant boost for Kennett, who had come within 172 votes of Butler when she made her inaugural run for the mayor’s seat in 2023. It also reenergized Wall, who had planned to leave the council at the end of the year and instead opted to vie for the office of mayor, which he had previously held for eight years until 2015.
The matchup between Kennett and Wall has raised considerable interest among political donors, who’ve shown their generosity to both office seekers since mid July, when a 12-day registration period for candidates kicked off the campaigns for this year’s municipal elections.
Over the past three and a half months, Wall has managed to add more than $49,000 to the bank balance that he had left over from his bid for the council in 2021. Wall’s campaign receipts have included some rather sizable contributions, including a $5,000 from the city’s departing mayor and more than a half dozen donations from local business owners that have exceeded $6,000 each.
Many of Wall’s larger donors have also lavished their generosity on incumbent councilman Harold Owen and Burlington’s retired police chief Jeffrey Smythe, who are competing for a pair of regular seats on Burlington’s city council. In fact, Owen, who currently serves as Burlington’s mayor pro tem, has rivaled Wall’s fundraising prowess with nearly $49,000 in receipts since he launched his reelection campaign in July.
Meanwhile, Kennett has taken in more than $22,000 in donations toward her mayoral bid, surpassing the $18,000-plus which she had accumulated in her inaugural run two years ago. Aside from a $500 check from North Carolina’s Democratic Party, Kennett has replenished her coffers through hundreds of small contributions from individual donors.
Kennett’s ability to rack up these microdonations seems to have rubbed off on Burlington’s former mayor Ian Baltutis, who is presently seeking one of the two regular seats on the council. At last check, Baltutis had accumulated over 40 smaller donations, which nevertheless account for less than $1,600 of the $13,000-plus that the former mayor has stashed away in the course of his current campaign.
At this point, there’s no information on the fundraising approach of Donna Vanhook, a one-time mayoral candidate who, like Baltutis, has allied herself with Kennett in her current bid for one of the council’s regular seats.
The funds raised by each of the six candidates are enumerated in a series of financial disclosure reports that office seekers are required to file under state law if they expend more than $1,000 on their campaigns. Election laws obligate candidates who submit these reports to reveal the names, addresses, occupations, employers, and donation amounts for any individual contributors who give more than $100. These details aren’t necessary for smaller sums, although some candidates chose to report them anyway.
In the case of this year’s municipal elections, most of the financial disclosures have appeared in a so-called 35-day report, which covers an 11-week period that ended on September 23. The local elections office has posted these reports for every candidate in Burlington with the exception of Vanhook. Meanwhile, some candidates have also submitted “pre-election” reports that enumerate their campaign transactions through October 20. As of Wednesday afternoon, the elections office had posted these secondary reports for Kennett, Owen, and Wall. Baltutis, meanwhile, has submitted his pre-election report to the state board of elections.
What follows is the particulars of each candidate’s campaign receipts, as they appear their reports (With the exception of some stylistic changes and the correction of obvious typos, this information appears exactly as it does in each candidate’s financial disclosure reports, notwithstanding discrepancies in how different candidates have described the same donors):
Beth Kennett
Second-time mayoral candidate Beth Kennett has accumulated $23,208.93 in her current bid for the city’s top-ranking elected position. These funds include $972.27 that the candidate had at the start of her current campaign, as well as $3,358.31 in smaller donations that aren’t itemized in her financial disclosure reports. Kennett has also disclosed a $500 check from the N.C. Democratic Party and $18,250.62 in individual donations from the following 75 contributors:
Cory Amron, 3116 18th Street North, Arlington, Virginia, no job title or profession, $83.34; Marcia Angle, 221 Deer Chase Lane, Durham, not employed, $333.34; Ian Baltutis, 702 West Davis Street, Burlington, inventor with Launch, Inc., $61; Thomas Baltutis, 4845 10th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, not employed, $500; Frances Blackburn, P.O. Box 220, Saxapahaw, community developer with Trusted Space Partners, $225;
Anne Bolin, 459 Parkview Drive, Burlington, not employed, $75; Haven Bourque, 3744 Glen Park Road, Oakland, California, food justice media, $100; Yun Boylston, 5005 Windsor Court, Elon, physician with Burlington Pediatrics, $500; Anne E. Brown, 2967 Biscayne Drive, Mebane, business systems analyst for a UNC System office, $390; Robert Byrd, 2826 Charlotte Lane, Burlington, not employed, $125;
Jill Caldwell, 2613 Branston Way, Apex, not employed, $200; Anne M. Cassebaum, 3469 Amick Road, Elon, not employed, $100; Don C. Chaplin, 2602 Edgewood Avenue, Burlington, physician, not employed, $100; Charles Clayton, 4707 Connecticut Avenue NW, Apartment 212, Washington, DC, not employed, $100; Kathi Clement, 940 Brentwood Drive, Burlington, not employed, $100;
Darrell Coble, P.O. Box 425, Burlington, not employed, $125; Carrie Coombs, 615 East Davis Street, Burlington, not employed, $100; Marcy Crary, 103 Prince Street, Newton, Massachusetts, not employed, $100; Kara Davis, 266 Altamahaw Union Ridge Road, Burlington, not employed, $100; Brent Denisar-Green, 1416 Las Palmas Avenue, Billings, Montana, physical therapist, $500;
James Evarts, 282 Katonah Avenue, PMB 184, Katonah, New York, not employed, $166.67; Mary Farran, 141 12th Street NE, No. 13, Washington, DC, not employed, $100; Lynn Fletcher, 6960 Birch Street, Falls Church, Virgina, attorney with Fletcher – Attorney at Law, $83.34; T. Scott Fowler, 604 Woodvale Drive, Greensboro, CPA, not employed, $125; Steve Gardner, P.O. Box 4880, Emerald Isle, attorney with Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, $100;
Margaret Gassert, 301 Pin Oak Court, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, social worker with Penn State Health, $100; Faith Grant, 911 West Davis Street, Burlington, realtor with Allen Tate, $125; Deborah Green, 1242 East Royal Palm Circle, Phoenix, Arizona, not employed, $1,000; Linda Hacker, 2 Grace Court, Apartment 2A, Brooklyn, New York, not employed, $83.34; Don Hague, 1009 Orchard Way, Silver Spring, Maryland, organist and choirmaster for St. Mark’s Church, $150;
Mary Hanchey, 4606 Marena Place, Durham, interim minister at Winter Park Baptist Church, $61; Peter Hansen, 912 S Street NW, Apartment 1, Washington, DC, not employed, $83.34; George Hastings, 14 West Chapman Street, Alexandria, Virginia, not employed, $83.34; Diane Heath, 3027 Maple Avenue, E1, Burlington, CPA/Not employed, $998 (including $112 in kind for postage); Mark Heizer, 935 Phils Creek Road, Chapel Hill, realtor with H-Co Properties & Realty, $262.50;
Eric Henry, 7125 Bass Mountain Road, Snow Camp, owner of T.S. Design, $250; Rebecca Hodge, 4504 Gates Street, Raleigh, author, $100; Kellie Hollander, 538 Parkview Drive, Burlington, finance for Prosperity Home Mortgage, $100; Lynn Huber, 419 East Willowbrook Drive, Burlington, professor at Elon University, $61; Ricardo Hurtado, 507 North Main Street, Graham, program officer for the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation, $125;
Kathryn Hykes, 2312 Tanner Court, Burlington, not employed, $1,500; Ronnie Jackson, 406 Westwood Drive, Chapel Hill, not employed, $100; Kathy Jones, 11407 Mansfield Club Drive, Fredericksburg, Virginia, not employed, $61; Elizabeth Kennett, 324 West Willowbrook Drive, Burlington, project manager for Atrium Health/Wake Forest Baptist, $2,307.79 in kind; Barbara McFadyen, 1004 Dawes Street, Chapel Hill, jeweler, $500.01;
Graig Meyer, 2109 Mount Sinai Road, Chapel Hill, legislator in the N.C. General Assembly, $125; Becky H. Mock, 5563 Thom Road, Mebane, not employed, $161; Linda Moore, 610 Durham Street, Burlington, not employed, $132.50; Stephen Myers, 122 Palmers Hill Road, Unit 1230, Stamford, Connecticut, not employed, $333.34; Emily Nanney, 901 Plummer Court, Wake Forest, registered nurse with UNC Health, $61;
Erin Nettles, 525 Country Club Drive, Burlington, manager for Glen Raven, $61; Kathleen Newman, 8716 Leonard Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland, not employed, $300; Alex Nickodem, 403 Longleaf Drive, Chapel Hill, realtor with Compass Terra Nova, $125; Heidi Norwick, 620 West Front Street, Burlington, not employed, $73.50; Elizabeth Osborne, 2585 Nealwood Avenue, Graham, not employed, $88.75 (including $15.25 in kind for postage);
Karen Pence, 19 4th Street NE, Washington, DC, economist for the Federal Reserve Board, $166.67; Jill Rushing, 2724 Armfield Avenue, Burlington, evaluator for NCACC, $75; Nidhi Sachdeva, 132 Vintage Drive, Chapel Hill, public health for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, $750; Gregory Scott, 450 Fieldstone Drive, Burlington, not employed, $100; Maryanne Shanahan, 1618 Abberly Place, Graham, not employed, $75;
Daniel Sheff, 377 Bardwells Ferry Road, Conway, Massachusetts, not employed, $83.34; James Shelton, 20616 Top Ridge Drive, Boyd, Maryland, not employed, $800; Christopher Smith, 4030 St. Croix Lane, Apartment 208, Mebane, IT security analyst for the city of Raleigh, $56.10; Ken Smith, 503 Circle Drive, Burlington, realtor with Allen Tate, $500; Kristina Stack, 116 Lakeview Drive, Kernersville, office manager for RE3 Builders & Renovations, $61;
Deborah Suess, 532 Lindley Road, Greensboro, clergy with FRUCC, $86; Patty Temples, 1214 Brookview Drive, Gibsonville, not employed, $75; John Trotter, 427 Glenwood Avenue, Burlington, not employed, $200; Mary Ward, P.O. Box 3126, Shallotte, not employed, $166.67; Mary Elizabeth Weitzmann, 2710 Bedford Street, Burlington, not employed, $100;
Sharon Wheeler, 2314 Woodridge Road, Burlington, pastor at Elon Community Church, $85.30; Anne White, 4832 Chevy Chase Boulevard, Chevy Chase, Maryland, not employed, $333.34; Shameka White, 2405 Grand Oaks Boulevard, Burlington, regional program manager with the Administration for Children and Families, $275; Molly Whitlatch, 2411 Glencoe Street, Burlington, attorney for the Recycling Partnership, $250; Hugh Charles Young, 820 Piedmont Avenue, Gibsonville, not employed, $150.
Ronnie K. Wall
Councilman Ronnie Wall has assembled a war chest of $54,601.67 in his bid to reclaim the office of Burlington’s mayor, which he had previously held from 2007 through 2015. Wall’s cumulative haul includes $4,901.67 in cash that he had at the start of his mayoral campaign as well as another $49,700 that he has subsequently received from the following individual donors:
Lawson Brown, P.O. Box 2958, Burlington, attorney, $500; Jennings M. Bryan, 143 Crape Myrtle Court, Burlington, insurance sales with the Jennings Bryan Agency, $500; Jim Butler, 520 Meadowood Drive, Burlington, director of operations for Modern Automotive, $5,000; Robert B. Chandler, 3240 Coventry Place, Burlington, businessman with Chandler Concrete, $500; Thomas E. Chandler, Jr., 2516 Pineway Drive, Burlington, businessman with Chandler Concrete, $500;
Vee Chandler of Burlington, retired, $500; David Cheek, 207 Colonial Way, Mebane, retired from city government, $250; William Coble, 224 Eastwood Court, Burlington, CEO of the Allison Group, $250; Terry Crenshaw, P.O. Box 910, Burlington, owner of Crenshaw Hyundai, $1,000; Alan Crouch, insurance with Hub International, $500;
James Crouch, 2529 Pineway Drive, Burlington, insurance with Harris & Crouch, $500; Shawn C. Cummings, 1844 Buxton Way, Burlington, developer with Vennterra Land Development, $6,800; Craig Durham, 1923 Delaine Drive, Burlington, CPA, $1,000; Michael Glick, 2406 Dogwood Lane, Burlington, insurance sales with Glick Insurance, $100; Richard Gunn, Jr., P.O. Box 308 Burlington, realtor with Keller Williams, $200;
Robert R. Harkrader III, 116 Red Tail, Unit CJ3, Boone, retired from the city of Burlington, $500; Sam Hunt, 1110 [illegible] Street, Burlington, businessman with Hunt Electric, $6,800; Sam Hunt III, 1218 West Davis Street, Burlington, a businessman with Hunt Electric, $6,800; Sam Hunt IV, 3021 North Fairway Drive, Burlington, a businessman with Hunt Electric, $6,800; Mark A. Jones, 4346 Nine Valley Drive, Burlington, attorney with Vernon Law, $500;
Philip A. Mantz, 1003 Dunleigh Drive, Burlington, retired, $100; Ryan D. Moffitt, 411 Fieldstone Drive, Burlington, attorney with Vernon Law, $100; Michael R. Neal, 1396 Carrick Drive, Burlington, $200; Perry E. Nichols, 509 Truitt Drive, Elon, auto dealer with Nichols Dodge, $6,400;
Tom Pate, P.O. Box 169, Burlington, Pate Real Estate, $200; Dr. James Powell, 1573 York Place, Burlington, “founder” of LabCorp, $500; Corbin Sapp, businessman with Ivars, $100; Dale Stearns, 100 Turnbury Place, Elon, auto dealer with Stearns Ford, $1,500; Cynthia Teal, 909 North Mebane Street, Burlington, retired, $500; Avery Thomas, Sr. of Burlington, retired, $500; Jason K. Turner, 412 Bradley Street, Burlington, owner of ACE Speedway, $100.
Ian Baltutis
The local elections office has received portions of the financial disclosure reports that Burlington’s former mayor Ian Baltutis has filed in his current campaign for a regular seat on the council. Baltutis has nevertheless submitted a more complete rendering of these reports to the state board of elections.
The latest of these state-level submissions is the candidate’s pre-election report, which puts Baltutis’ total receipts for the campaign at $13,442.46. This figure includes a $100 donation from the campaign committee of current Burlington council member Dejuana Bigelow as well as $1,582.50 in smaller donations that aren’t itemized in the candidate’s financial disclosure reports. Baltutis has also logged $11,760.50 in itemized contributions, including $2,457.24 in in-kind donations that he has made to his own campaign. His various reports list additional contributions from the following individuals:
Thomas Baltutis, 4845 10th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota, retired engineer, $1,000; Frances Blackburn, P.O. Box 220, Saxapahaw, community developer with Trusted Space Partners, $125; Marvin Blackburn, 429 Edinburgh Drive, Burlington, not employed, $150; Ellen Blackwell, 2734 Blanche Drive, Burlington, scheduling manager for CRC Salomon Court Reporting, $100; Yun Boylston, 5005 Windsor Court, Elon, a physician at Burlington Pediatrics, $500;
Anne Brown, 2967 Biscayne Drive, Mebane, business systems analyst for a UNC system office, $100; Robert Byrd, 2826 Charlotte Lane, Burlington, not employed, $125; Don Chaplin, 2602 Edgewood Avenue, Burlington, not employed, $200; Carrie Coombs, 615 East Davis Street, Burlington, student at Alamance Community College, $200; T. Scott Fowler, 604 Woodvale Drive, Greensboro, CPA, not employed, $125;
Faith Grant, 911 West Davis Street, Burlington, a self-employed realtor, $125; Diane Heath, 3027 Maple Avenue, E1, Burlington, not employed, $375; Mark Heizer, P.O. Box 162, Carrboro, realtor with H-Co Realty, $512.50; Anthony Hickey, 1208 Killington Court, Chapel Hill, not employed, $200; Ricardo Hurtado, 507 North Main Street, Graham, program officer for the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation, $125;
Kathryn Hykes, 2312 Tanner Court, Burlington, not employed, $1,500; Dewitt Methvin IV, 300 Highfall Avenue, Greencastle, Indiana, a software engineer with Indiana University, $100; Graig Meyer, 2109 Mount Sinai Road, Chapel Hill, a legislator in the N.C. General Assembly, $125; Becky Mock, 5563 Thom Road, Mebane, not employed, $100; Annamarie Neill, 1225 Ridgecrest Avenue, Burlington, a taxonomist with GlaxoSmithKline, $100;
Alex Nichodem, 403 Longleaf Drive, Chapel Hill, a self-employed realtor, $125; Robert Perry, 223 Forest Road, Raleigh, not employed, $200; Jill Rushing, 2724 Armfield Avenue, Burlington, an evaluator for the NCACC, $153 (including $78 in-kind for postage stamps); Nidhi Sachdeva, 132 Vintage Drive, Chapel Hill, public health for the N.C. Association of County Commissioners, $540; Ken Smith, 503 Circle Drive, Burlington, a realtor with the Smith/Carter Group, $500;
Phil Smith, P.O. Box 652, Elon, business owner, $100; M.T., P.O. Box 425, Burlington, not employed, $125; Shameka White, 2405 Grand Oaks Boulevard, Burlington, not employed, $275; Amy Taylor North, 8480 Lismore Street, Clemmons, business owner, $250; Molly Whitlatch, 531 North Main Street, Graham, an attorney for the Recycling Partnership, $250; Charles Young, 820 Piedmont Avenue, Gibsonville, not employed, $150.
Harold Owen
Councilman Harold Owen has amassed $48,867.28 toward his reelection campaign, including $2,000 from the election committee of Burlington’s outgoing mayor Jim Butler. Owen has also received $75 in individual contributions that were small enough not to itemize in his report as well as $46,792.28 from the following 31 donors:
Christina Beck, 1014 Bianco Drive, Raleigh, doctor with Duke Health, $242.28; Jennings Bryan, 143 Crape Myrtle Court, Burlington, insurance with Jennings Bryan/Chappell Insurance, $500; Lawson Brown, P.O. Box 2958, Burlington, attorney with Vernon, Vernon, Andrews & Garrett, $500; Robert Chandler, 3240 Coventry Place, Burlington, concrete professional with Chandler Concrete, $500; Thomas Chandler, Jr., 2516 Pineway Drive, Burlington, concrete professional with Candler Concrete, $500;
David Cheek, 207 Colonial Way, Mebane, consultant for Bobbitt Construction, $250; William Coble, 224 Eastwood Court, Burlington, chemical distributor for the Allison Group, $100; Alan Crouch, 2916 Forestdale Drive, Burlington, insurance for HUB International, $500; James Crouch, 2529 Pineway Drive, Burlington, insurance with Harris Crouch, Inc., $500; Shawn Cummings, 1844 Buxton Way, Burlington, developer with Vennterra LAD Development, $6,800; Craig Durham, 1923 Delaine Drive, Burlington, CPA with R. Craig Durham, $1,000;
Richard Gunn, P.O. Box 308, Burlington, retired, $200; Robert Harkrader, 116 Red Tail Summit, Unit CJ3, Boone, retired, $500; F.D. Hornaday III, P.O. Box 790, Burlington, manufacturer with Knit-Wear Fabrics, $1,000; Sam Hunt, 161 Via Palma, Palm Beach, Florida, lighting and electrical supplies for Hunt Electric, $6,800; Victoria Hunt, 161 Via Palma, Palm Beach, Florida, not employed, $6,800; Sam Hunt, IV 3021 North Fairway Drive, Burlington, lighting and electrical supplies for Hunt Electric, $6,800; Mark Jones, 7796 Classics Drive, Naples, Floria, entrepreneur with Buffalo Wild Wings, $500;
James Kirkpatrick, 530 Country Club Drive, Burlington, operations manager with Kirkpatrick Concrete, $500; Ernest Koury, Jr., P.O. Box 850, Burlington, textiles for Carolina Hosiery, $1,000; Constance McCall, 129 Pembroke Street, No. 4, Boston, Massachusetts, CPA with Roopes & Gray, $100; Chapman McQueen, 1002 East Willowbrook Drive, Burlington, doctor with Alamance Ear Nose & Throat, $250; Ryan Moffitt, 441 Fieldstone Drive, Burlington, attorney with the Vernon Law Firm, $100; David Morton, 1714 Westbrook Avenue, Burlington, real estate manager with David Morton Enterprises, $1,000.
Lisa Nichols, 509 Truitt Drive, Elon, car dealer with Nichols Automotive, $6,400; Corbin Sapp, 2906 Amherst Avenue, Burlington, owner of Ivars, Inc., $100; Richard H. Shirley, Jr., 2208 West Front Street, Burlington, retired, $250; Dale A Stearns, 100 Turnbury Place, Elon, car dealer with Stearns Automotive, $1,500; Thomas Steele, 3024 Amherst Avenue, Burlington, attorney with Pittman & Steele, $100; Avery Thomas, P.O. Box 1959, Burlington, CPA with Thomas, Chandler, Thomas & Hinshaw, $500; Hugh Wilson, 3126 Sutton Place, Burlington, CEO of Machinery Installation Company, $1,000.
Jeffrey Smythe
According to his 35-day report, Jeffrey Smythe, Burlington’s retired chief of police, has taken in a total of $37,370 in his bid to win a seat on the city council. These funds include $350 in smaller contributions from eight donors who aren’t itemized in his report. Smythe has also received itemized donations from the following 13 contributors:
Shawn C. Cummings, 1844 Buxton Way, Burlington, $6,800; Ronald F. Driscoll, 2250 Walker Avenue, Burlington, retired computer systems analyst, $100; Robert Craig Durham, 1923 Delaine Drive, Burlington, a CPA with a private accounting firm, $1,000; Velma Gaydos, 1520 Sid Michell Road, Youngsville, $100; Sam Hunt IV, 3021 North Fairway Drive, Burlington, owner of Hunt Electric Supply, $6,800;
Samuel Hunt III, 161 Via Palma, Palm Beach, Florida, retired from Hunt Electric Supply, $6,800; Victoria S. Hunt, 161 Via Palma, Palm Beach, Florida, retired from Hunt Electric Supply, $6,800; Roxanne Loudenslager, 102 Eddieton Court, Mebane, retired, $100; Victor McCraw, 1296 Kapiolani Boulevard, Apartment 3606, Honolulu, Hawaii, state agency administrator for the state of Hawaii, $100; Lisa W. Nichols, 509 Truitt Drive, Elon, owner of the Nichols Dodge car dealership, $6,400;
Phil Smith, P.O. Box 652, Elon, self-employed restaurateur, $100; Virginia L. Smythe, 2625 East Southern Avenue, Unit C-280, Tempe, Arizona, retired educator, $200; Dale A. Stearns, 100 Turnbury Place, Elon, owner of the Stearns Ford car dealership, $1,500.
Donna M. Vanhook
A one-time mayoral candidate, Donna Vanhook has notified the local elections office that she expects her current campaign for Burlington’s city council to exceed the $1,000 threshold needed to file financial disclosure reports. Even so, the elections office has not posted any filings for Vanhook since July, when she revealed that she had spotted her campaign a single, in-kind donation of $20 to cover her candidate registration fee.
