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National money coming into Charlotte mayoral election

By Paul Boyd
By Paul Boyd

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Democratic National Committee formally announced on Tuesday that it's contributing money toward Vi Lyles in her race for mayor, via the North Carolina Democratic Party.

Lyles told Channel 9 she welcomes the support.

"I'm particularly excited that they've been able to bring their ability to communicate to our community," Lyles said.

Channel 9 asked the DNC officials how much money they were contributing but they would not say and cited "strategic" reasons. The dollar amount will eventually be public record, but not before Election Day.

"I think it says that the Democratic party is looking carefully at Charlotte," Lyles said.

Republican mayoral candidate Kenny Smith reacted to the news Tuesday.

"I don't think there's any amount of outside help of folks from Washington, D.C. that can change the trajectory (of this race)," Smith said.

Smith told Channel 9 he has not asked for money from the Republican National Committee.

"For us, we've been running a local campaign and our volunteers are local," Smith said.

Monday's campaign finance report may help explain why the Democratic National Committee is getting involved. Smith has outraised his opponent by $114,499 this election cycle.

DNC officials told Channel 9 their money will go toward voter turnout operations.

"The voters are going to make the difference and so we're going to use every effort to get turnout for the people that are going to support our values and our actions," Lyles said.

Smith insists his team is up for this last-minute challenge.

"We've got a lot of enthusiasm at our side and we're going to keep grinding for one more week, and we think we'll be victorious on Nov. 7," Smith said.

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