How did Charlotte Mayor Lyles spend more than $140k on her reelection campaign?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lyles raised more than $146K and spent almost $142K, far more than her opponent.
- Her top expense was $30,000 to a digital marketing agency.
- She spent no money on clothes, while Terrie Donovan spent almost $4,000.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles spent more than four times as much money as her opponent during her 2025 campaign before cruising to a decisive victory.
The five-term Democrat spent tens of thousands of dollars on media companies to prop up her campaign despite widely being considered a shoo-in. Unlike her Republican opponent, Terrie Donovan, Lyles did not spend campaign money on clothes or travel last year.
Lyles raised more than $146,000 and spent almost $142,000, according to her latest campaign finance report filed in January.
She defeated Donovan by a commanding 45 percentage points.
Here’s what to know about the mayor’s campaign spending.
Lyles spent more than $30,000 on a marketing agency
The biggest line item in Lyles’ most recent report, which covered the period between Oct. 21 and Dec. 31, was a $30,000 expense for digital marketing from Battle Axe Digital, a D.C.-based digital campaign agency.
Lyles spent an additional $23,300 on “media” from Mosaic Communications, a strategic consulting firm based in Virginia that works with Democratic candidates.
Those two expenses together cost more than Donovan’s entire war chest: She raised just over $47,000 as a first-time candidate.
Those costs covered advertising and canvasing, according to LaToya Evans, a spokesperson for the Lyles campaign. She did not elaborate further on Lyles’ expenses.
How else did Vi Lyles spend campaign dollars?
Most other payments in her report covered operating expenses such as software or campaign staff.
She also spent $5,000 on “poll watchers.” Evans did not elaborate on this expense when asked for context.
A review of finance reports dating back to the start of her previous term in 2023 show Lyles had a few atypical expenses.
In 2024 Lyles spent $2,738.35 on flights, including one expense worth more than $1,750. She also spent $311.64 on Blumenthal Performing Arts Center tickets for a campaign volunteer event, according to her filings.
In 2023 she spent $643 on Panthers tickets for a campaign party.
Expenditures are generally allowed if a candidate would not have otherwise spent the money if they weren’t running for office, according to the state’s campaign finance manual.
How do Vi Lyles’ expenses compare to Terrie Donovan?
Unlike her opponent, Lyles did not spend campaign money on travel during the election year or purchase clothes.
Donovan’s report stood out from other municipal candidates because she racked up nearly $3,900 in clothes expenses, spent $200 on a flight over a month after Election Day and purchased a $121 Lyft ride on New Years Eve.
Donovan’s finance report also revealed she spent more than $3,500 on food during her campaign. She spent hundreds of those dollars on restaurants after the election was over, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Donovan told the Observer her report was “fully compliant” with campaign finance laws and the expenses were all campaign related.
For comparison, at-large candidate Edwin Peacock and District 6 candidate Krista Bokhari, both Republicans, raised more money than any other municipal candidate last year. Donovan spent more on food during the election than both Peacock and Bokhari combined, who collectively raised seven times as much money as her.
And Peacock spent less on food over the entire course of his campaign than Donovan spent on food after the election was over.
Lyles spent about a thousand dollars more on food than her opponent, the overwhelming majority of which went toward two events. The first, worth nearly $1,900, was a campaign team dinner at Dressler’s just outside midtown about a week before the election. The second was an election party with $2,600 in catering.
Lyles spent no money on food after the election.
Only two of Lyles’ expenses were dated more than one week out from Election Day. One expense was for her Google account. The other was a $3,000 check to her campaign treasurer.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
