Candidates for office in Wilmington have brought in record-breaking money this election cycle, campaign filings show. Candidates for city council and mayor raised over $470,000 — with additional fundraising possible in the last weeks of the race.
With Election Day just days away, WHQR teamed up with WECT Investigates to dig through campaign finance reports from every candidate running for Wilmington mayor and city council this November.
This analysis comes from the candidates’ mid-year, 35-day reports, and the pre-election reports, which track receipts and expenditures through October 20.
This year, the individual contribution limit has been raised from $6,400 to $6,800. The limit for anonymous donations remains $50; these are listed as aggregated contributions and don’t include donor information.
Mayoral Race
Bill Saffo - $129,775*
Incumbent Democratic Mayor Bill Saffo started the election cycle with around $24,500 and raised $129,775 – including a $20,000 personal loan* Saffo contributed to his campaign. His campaign has spent about $134,600, with just shy of $19,600 in cash left on hand.
Saffo received over 100 donations, $75 in aggregated contributions.
His top donors included $10,000 from husband and wife Timothy and Vicki Milam (each donated $5,000). Timothy and Vicki are, respectively, the president and broker at Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, where Saffo is also a real estate agent. Another $10,000 came from father and son H. David and Jason Swain, developer and broker, respectively, at Swain and Associates, which is developing Center Point and other projects around Wilmington.
Other large donations include $6,000 from Michael Lopez, president of Lopez Mortgage, $5,000 James Yopp, developer James Yopp, who was involved in a major project in the county on Carolina Beach Road, $4,000 from Craig Stevens, CEO of Stevens Fine Homes, $4,000 from Christoper Bailey, president of Jacksonville-based commercial real estate Bailey and Associates, and $2,000 Roy Carroll II, the conservative billionaire president of the Carroll Companies and developer of The Avenue (Carroll was apparently misidentified as “III” on campaign finance forms, as Carroll does not have any sons).
Saffo received a collective $4,000 from partners at Cape Fear Development ($1,000 each from Calvin Wells, Paul Loukas, Brian Eckel, and Mike Brown), who have worked on multiple Wilmington-area projects. He also received a collective $4,500 from members of his family.
Other notable donors included former mayor and Endowment board member Spence Broadhurst, who gave $1,000, and CFCC board members A.D. “Zander” Guy, who gave $1,000, and Lanny Wilson, who gave $2,000.
Many other $1,000-$2,000 donations from people working in development, construction, and real estate.
The top expenses for Saffo’s committee include $45,000 for Wilmington-based Firelux, which produced advertisements and managed social media. Another roughly $28,000 went to Durham-based Ampersand Strategies, LLC, for mailers and automated calls and texts, and $12,000 went to Wilmington-based Organic Digital Design for website management. The committee paid $20,000 to seasoned political advisor Louise McColl for campaign strategy.
Jonathan Barfield, Jr. - $16,378
Former Democratic New Hanover County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield raised $16,378 with the help of around 65 donors, and he spent $15,918. His cash-on-hand is $8,600. His top contributors were Charles Schoninger, chief executive officer of USA InvestCo, who gave $2,500, and Malcomb Coley who is managing partner of Ernst & Young LLP, who gave the same amount. He also had three donors who gave $1,000: the Committee for [Skip] Alston for County Commissioner [for Guilford County], Edwrin Sutton, pastor of The Sending Church, and Jon Vincent, who is a certified public accountant.
He also had the financial support of Democratic New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple, who donated $500 in his personal capacity.
Barfield spent most of his campaign funds on billboards, signs, and website development. Some of his top expenses was for Precision Signz, $3,671, and $1,089 to A & M Screen Printing, mainly for t-shirts. He also spent $1,000 on All Ways Graphics.
Billy Craig - $8,270
Republican challenger Billy Craig, a political newcomer, raised $8,270 and spent $5,655. He relied on smaller donation amounts from over 50 donors; his largest contributions tallied $500. Craig, a former Wilmington police and FBI task force officer, received several contributions from WPD officers and others working in law enforcement.
Nearly all of Craig’s expenditures went to campaign signs. He spent $2,111.71 on campaign signs from Signs on the Cheap. Craig also used funds for pens, thank you cards, and flyers.
City Council Candidates
Luke Waddell – $132,081
Republican incumbent Luke Waddell leads the race for most money raised in the city council election, notching $132,081 in contributions while spending $79,802.
Waddell received contributions of at least $1,000 from 20 donors. That included a $5,000 donation from Matthew Winslow, a contractor and member of the state House of Representatives. New Hanover County Commissioner Dane Scalise contributed $3,400, and former commission chair and current UNC Board of Governors member Woody White donated $2,000. Wrightsville Beach Mayor Pro Tem Hank Miller put $1,000 into Waddell’s campaign, and the committee for county commissioner LeAnn Pierce contributed $500.
The head of a local realty group, Waddell received significant support from the real estate and construction community. NC Realtors PAC, whose stated goal is to elect real estate-friendly candidates to public office, donated $5,000 to Waddell’s campaign. Real estate broker Tim Milam donated $3,000, and Joseph McKinney, the CEO of developer Evolve Companies, contributed $2,500.
Most of Waddell’s expenditures went to advertising. He paid $32,500 to creative services company Firelux for a commercial, and a combined $5,950 to two different groups for advertising costs. Another $3,555 helped with billboard costs. Waddell also paid $4,825 to the New Hanover County Republican Party and the county Republican Women’s Club.
Richard Collier - $85,352
Republican candidate Richard Collier started with $0 and raised $85,352 from over 90 donations. His committee spent roughly $69,136 and had about $16,215 in remaining cash on hand as of October 20.
Collier’s top donation was $13,600 from wife and husband Fredericka ‘Freddy’ and Gregg Goldenberg, who each gave $6,800. Fredericka is a business owner and Gregg is a partner in a private real estate firm; the two also have a philanthropic foundation.
Other top contributions include $6,8000 from developer D. Logan, $5,000 from David Bloom, an attorney with GFB Associates, and $5,000 from Wesley Corder, president of the Thomson, Corder, and Co. contracting company. Collier’s committee also received donations from several other developers, including $2,000 each from David and Jason Swain of Swain and Associates, $2,500 from Hyman Brody, owner of Mayfaire development company BrodyCo, and $1,000 from The Avenue developer Roy Carroll; the committee also received several other significant $1,000-$2,000 donations from people working in real estate, construction, and development.
Collier’s committee also received several donations from influential Wilmington-area conservatives, including $1,502.02 from Hank Estep, president of a Wilmington-based insurance company, $500 from Woody White, and $100 from Republican State Senator Michael Lee.
Lastly on the receipts side, Collier received $500 donations from three other committees, including the campaign committees for Dane Scalise and current county commissioner chairman Bill Rivenbark, as well as the Lower Cape Fear Women’s Club.
Collier’s top expenses were consulting and advertising.
His committee spent $8,500 on Wilmington-based Starboard Consulting and Hampstead-based Muse Consultants Group. The committee also paid $7,333 DC-based Republican Ads LLC for digital advertising and $6,000 for Facebook ads. Locally, the committee spent almost $12,000 on billboards, over $8,000 for yard signs, and roughly $4,500 on advertising in local media outlets Port City Daily and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.
Cassidy Santaguida - $38,973
Democratic candidate Cassidy Santaguida recorded $38,973 in contributions, spending $27,377.81. She relied primarily on smaller donations, with over 200 contributions including smaller aggregated contributions, and received support from area Democratic officials including state representative Deb Butler ($200), city council member David Joyner ($250), New Hanover County School Board member Tim Merrick ($100) and county commissioner Rob Zapple ($500) – all personal donations, not from those officials’ committees.
Top donations included $2,500 from both former state senate candidate Marcia Morgan and the committee for former state house candidate Jonathan Berger, and $1,500 from film producer Beth Crookham. Santaguida also received contributions from several UNCW professors and employees.
A significant chunk of Santaguida’s expenditures went to digital advertising, with $7,000 to South Bridge Political Partners – a local consulting group – for web design and social media, and $585 for Facebook ads. Santaguida also spent $6,199 for mailers through the Asheville-based Meda Corporation, and $1,560 for yard signs from AGE Graphics.
JC Lyle - $33,384
Democratic candidate JC Lyle brought in $33,384. Her top contributor was herself at $5,834. The NC Realtors PAC gave $5,000, and Cape Fear Commercial’s Brian Eckel gave $3,000. Grey Vick of Grey Door LLC, and Jason Swain of Swain & Associates both gave $2,000. Tim Milam donated $1,000.
Current council member Republican Charlie Rivenbark supported her campaign by donating $200. Democratic New Hanover County school board member Tim Merrick gave $100.
She had over 90 donors through the election cycle.
For her expenditures, Lyle’s main expenses were signage, billboards, staffing, and an event at Wrightsville Beach Brewery. Some of her top purchases were on digital media, purchasing ads from Gray Media for $2,494 and Davis Media for $1,508.
She spent $27,756 overall. She has $5,627 cash on hand.
Chakema Clinton-Quintana - $19,054
Democratic candidate Chakema Clinton-Quintana started the campaign with $0 and raised $19,054. Through October 20, her committee spent roughly $13,870 – which includes the fair market value of “in-kind donations.” Her committee reports about $5,350 left in cash on hand.
The top contribution was $1,924 from Atiba Johnson, an entrepreneur and business advisor at Channel, the business services center where Clinton-Quintana serves as director.
Top donors also include Mary Boney Denison and Huntley Garriott, who both gave $1,000. Denison is an interior designer; Garriot is the managing director of Movement Holding Company and was previously the president of Live Oak Bank, which founded Channel in 2021.
Other notable donations include $520 from former school board candidate Veronica McLaurin-Brown, $250 from city councilman David Joyner (in his personal capacity), and $150 from Wilmington Housing Authority executive director Tyrone Garrett (in his personal capacity).
Much of Clinton-Quintana’s fundraising came from smaller donations, including well over 100 aggregated donations.
Major expenses include around $2,000 for yard signs and $700 for t-shirts.
In-kind donations included $2,000 for the venue for Clinton-Quintana’s launch party, $2,000 for VoteBuilder services through the North Carolina Democratic Party, and around $3,950 for a variety of marketing, branding, and social media services.
Clifford Barnett, Sr. - $9,399
Democratic incumbent Clifford Barnett started the election cycle with just shy of $4,300 on hand, raised close to $9,399 from close to 30 donors, and spent $3,284 on signage and billboards.
Some of Barnett’s top expenses were purchasing campaign signs from Precision Signz, spending $3,209. He also got billboard advertisements worth $2,979 from Amplifi Outreach.
His cash on hand is $10,411.
His top donor was Cape Fear Realtors, Inc. who gave $5,000. Anthony Saffo, a family member of current Democratic Mayor Bill Saffo, gave $1,500. Four donors gave $1,000: Adair Graham, Bruce Cameron, Julian Harris, and Rachel Fanning.
Fellow council member, Democrat David Joyner, gave $250 to his campaign.
Kelly Roberts, Jr. - $0
Republican candidate Kelly Roberts has not reported any financial contributions to his campaign.
His campaign has recorded $730 worth of in-kind donations: $365 each in signs from Diane Zaryki and Roberts himself.
Sean Guerrero - $0
Republican Sean Guerrero is not running an active campaign and did not file any financial reports with the county or state Board of Elections.
