Pavan Patel has raised twice as much as his competitors for the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners race, according to self-reported campaign finance records for the first half of 2024. Patel has never held a political office before — but he’s raised more than $83,000 from Jan. 1 to June 30 this year.
The second-highest fundraising candidate, Kirk deViere, with over $39,000, represented the 19th district in the North Carolina State Senate from 2019 to 2023. He’s also a former Fayetteville City Council member.
There are three seats up for grabs in the county commissioners’ race. Six candidates, three from each party, are running to be on the board. The top three vote-getters will be elected. The six candidates have raised a combined total of $182,681.82 from Jan. 1 to June 30.
These numbers are based on the latest self-reported campaign finance records to the North Carolina Board of Elections, including campaign contributions and expenditures from the start of 2024 through June 30. While incumbent Toni Stewart has raised the least of the six competing candidates, her records only include the first quarter of 2024, as well as money carried over from the last election cycle in which she successfully ran for county commissioner. Stewart told CityView she plans to submit the second quarterly report by Monday and has raised $300 since submitting the first quarterly report.
The third quarterly report, which spans from July 1 to Oct. 19, is due on Oct. 29, a week before Election Day.
Each election cycle, candidates running for political office are required to submit campaign finance records to the appropriate regulator. For local elections, this means sending reports to the county boards of elections, which work with the State Board of Elections to regulate campaign contributions and expenditures in primaries and elections for North Carolina offices.
Each candidate is required to organize a committee for the purposes of tracking campaign finances through the election cycle. Those finance records are considered public and are published on the State Board of Elections website.
- Cash on hand at start: This refers to the amount of money a campaign committee has left over from the last campaign finance reporting period for the office they are running for.
- Contributions: This refers to “any advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, gift, pledge or subscription of money or anything of value whatsoever, made to, or in coordination with, a candidate to support or oppose the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates, to a political committee, to a political party, to an affiliated party committee, or to a referendum committee, whether or not made in an election year, and any contract, agreement, or other obligation to make a contribution,” as per North Carolina General Statute.
- Expenditures: This refers to “any purchase, advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, gift, pledge or subscription of money or anything of value whatsoever, whether or not made in an election year, and any contract, agreement, or other obligation to make an expenditure, to support or oppose the nomination, election, or passage of one or more clearly identified candidates, or ballot measure,” as per North Carolina General Statute.
- Cash on hand at end of reporting period: This refers to the amount of money a campaign finance committee has at the end of this reporting period, or money spent subtracted by money taken in.
Here’s a breakdown of each candidate’s campaign finances from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2024:
Pavan D. Patel, Republican
- Cash on hand at start: $0
- Contributions: $83,184.54
- Expenditures: $63,100.67
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $20,083.87
Kirk deViere, Democrat
- Cash on hand at start: $0
- Contributions: $39,359.58
- Expenditures: $7,720.03
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $31,639.55
Henry Tyson, Republican
- Cash on hand at start: $0
- Contributions: $36,615.30
- Expenditures: $36,477.20
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $138.10
Peter Pappas, Republican
- Cash on hand at start: $0
- Contributions: $17,674.40
- Expenditures: $16,950.75
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $723.65
Karla Icaza, Democrat
- Cash on hand at start: $0
- Contributions: $4,898
- Expenditures: $4,821.87
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $76.13
Toni Stewart, Democrat
- Cash on hand at start: $1634.44
- Contributions: $950 (this figure excludes the $300 Stewart said she raised since submitting the first quarterly report)
- Expenditures: $726.66
- Cash on hand at the end of reporting period: $1857.78
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
