By Natalie Anderson
natalie.anderson@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Year-end campaign finance reports for the 2021 Salisbury City Council race show Mayor Karen Alexander raised more than $20,000, while Mayor Pro Tem Tamara Sheffield and council member Anthony Smith exceeded $10,000.

Year-end reports were due at the end of January and detailed financial activity among candidates from Oct. 19 to Dec. 31. The election was held Nov. 2.

Alexander’s report shows she began the reporting period with $14,599 cash on hand and finished with $10,738. Cash on hand is the money left after any expenses during the period. She received $4,724 in contributions during the final reporting period and $24,936 overall.

Alexander’s contributions for the October to December reporting period include $2,000 from Thomas Overcash, who donated $3,500 overall. She also received $1,000 from Eleanor Greene of Triad Womens Center in High Point and $250 from Dave McCoy of McCoy & Hillard in Salisbury.

Alexander made multiple purchases costing less than $50 for food and meetings. She spent $746 this period and $2,387 overall for ads placed in the Salisbury Post, $1,238 for Facebook ads, $1,665 for a billboard and $4,571 overall for post cards from the Meda Company. She spent $1,316 overall for T-shirts from Ultimate Sports Apparel.

Sheffield began the reporting period with $8,395 cash on hand and ended it with $4,160. She received a total of $13,457 in contributions, with $650 of that received between October and December. She received $200 from Lesa Lane Wallace of Wallace Realty, $100 from Linda Alexander of Salisbury and $100 from Scott Huffman, a 2020 Democratic congressional candidate.

Sheffield spent a total of $10,637, with $4,885 of that spent in the year-end reporting period. She spent less than $100 on separate purchases of food and drinks for volunteers at businesses such as Mean Mug, Koco Java, Little Caesars and Food Lion. Sheffield spent $4,435 at Miller Davis Agency for mailers and $100 for an ad in WSAT Radio.

Smith began the period with $3,227 cash on hand and finished with $1,319. He received a total of $12,876 in contributions, with $710 of that in the final reporting period. Smith received $100 from Velveeta Reid-Hairston of Hairston Funeral Home in Salisbury and $100 from Timothy Bates, a minister in Statesville.

Smith spent a total of $7,087, with $2,546 spent between October and December for streaming campaign information via Amazon, T-shirts from Big 3 Apparel in Salisbury, Facebook ads and an election night celebration with catering from Wideman Catering in Spencer.

In July, council candidate Harry McLaughlin Jr. signed a certification of threshold indicating he didn’t intend to raise or spend more than $1,000 for his campaign. He revoked that certification and exceeded the threshold in October.

McLaughlin’s report shows he ended the race with $2,143 cash on hand after raising a total of $7,864. He received $1,000 from Greg Alcorn of Global Contact Services, $1,000 from Brian McLaughlin of Enterprise Community Development Inc. in Maryland, $100 from Vergel Lattimore of Hood Theological Seminary, $100 from E. William Wagoner of Wagoner Properties, $100 from Salisbury physician Dr. Thomas Carlton, $100 from Sue Palmer Fisher in Salisbury, $100 from local novelist and playwright Jennifer Hubbard, $250 from Steve Fisher of F&M Bank, $500 from P. Carroll Teeter of Central Carolina Insurance Agency in Salisbury and $259 from Thomas Lang of Showtime Networks in New York City.

McLaughlin spent a total of $5,722, with $299 spent for postcards, business cards and car magnets from VistaPrint, $2,553 for yard signs and handout flyers from TCW Vizionz in Salisbury, $230 for an ad in The County News in Statesville, $400 for radio ads with WSAT Radio and $766 for shirts and postcards from Ma and Me Accessories in Mocksville.

Some candidates received contributions from the same donor. Salisbury resident Ed Norvell donated $750 in total to Alexander, $259 to Smith and $200 to McLaughlin. Earlier in the election cycle, Norvell contributed $200 to Sheffield’s campaign and $250 to Al Heggins, who ran for the mayoral seat.

Additionally, Livingstone College President Jimmy Jenkins contributed $100 to McLaughlin’s campaign and $100 to Alexander’s campaign. He also donated $100 to Heggins.

Former city council member Maggie Blackwell donated $200 to Smith and $100 to McLaughlin.

Council member David Post doesn’t accept campaign donations. His pre-election report shows he began and ended the election with $513 cash on hand and loaned his campaign $1,794, which was used to purchase radio ads with WSAT for $300 and ads in the Post for $1,494.

Contact reporter Natalie Anderson at 704-797-4246.