Mayoral candidates raise combined $85,185 through March 31

The deadline to report campaign finances was April 7. All six mayoral candidates filed their disclosures, while only seven council candidates had complied with state law.

Photo of candidates courtesy of Devon Snider.

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Wheeling, W. Va. — Voters in Wheeling will decide who the city’s next mayor is on May 14–a role six individuals seek to attain. In this final week, candidates are making their case by door-knocking, attending events, debating, and even participating in a beer marathon.

Candidates are also spending a lot of money to spread their campaign message. 

Municipal candidates are required to report their campaign contributions and expenditures to the city clerk’s office. The following data was compiled from the first quarter disclosures including finances through March 31. Candidate primary reports, due by May 3, 2024, have not been reviewed by Wheeling Free Press.

As of March 31, mayoral candidates declared that they have raised a combined $85,185.45 and spent a combined $53,281.92. On average, candidates have spent $8,880.32 to become the next Mayor of Wheeling–a largely ceremonial role that accounts for one of seven votes on the city’s council.

Vice Mayor Chad Thalman declared $27,710.00 in contributions for his mayoral campaign, followed by insurance agent JT Thomas with $22,887.03, former WesBanco Arena Executive Director Denny Magruder is in third with $18,415.92, Councilor Rosemary Ketchum in fourth with $8,321.50, business owner Beth Hinebaugh in fifth at $7,800.00, and Warwood resident Carl Carpenter in sixth with $50.00.

For expenditures, Thomas takes the lead with $24,983.70 spent on his campaign. 

By March 31, Thomas had spent 2.5 times more money than the Magruder campaign, who sits in second place with $9,764.01 spent. Thalman is in third for expenditures having spent $9,333.27, Hinebaugh in fourth with $6,960.76, Ketchum in fifth with $2,190.19, and Carpenter in sixth with $50.00. 

Thomas has spent more than he has raised through donations. Thomas, Hinebaugh, and Magruder, are the only candidates to take out loans to fund their campaigns. 

Thomas has taken on the most debt, lending his campaign $15,000.00. Thomas has also donated $726.41 to his own campaign. Hinebaugh and Magruder have taken out loans, too–$7,000.00 and $5,500.00, respectively. 

As of March 31, Ketchum has received 124 individual donations to her campaign, by far the highest among her peers. Thomas has received 70 individual donations, Magruder 58, Thalman 57, Hinebaugh 2, and Carpenter 1. 

Carl Carpenter’s financial disclosure will be excluded from the remainder of this analysis. His only contribution, $50.00, came from himself and was spent on his filing fee. 

Ketchum is the most grassroots campaign with an average individual donation of $59.00–more than five times less than her fellow candidate's average donation. Her median donation is $25.00.

As of March 31, Ketchum has received only one donation above $250.00, from actress and activist Jennifer Garner who donated $2,500.00. This donation accounts for 30% of Ketchum’s contributions.

Garner, who lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., moved to Charleston, W.Va. at the age of three and live in the state until she moved to Ohio to attend college.

Thomas has the second smallest average donation at $307.15, and a median donation of $150.00. Donations above $250.00 account for 64% of his campaign. Gary Glessner of Valley Grove, W.Va., and James Carson of Wheeling are Thomas’s top donors both donating $2,800.00. 

Thomas has received donations above $250.00 from several out-of-state donors, including from individuals in Waterloo, Ill., Rockville, N.Y., Brownsville, Pa., Province, Ohio, and Jackson, Wyo.

Magruder’s average donation is $339.66. Donations over $250.00 account for 67% of his campaign contributions, with Wheeling residents Alexa and Steven Yahn being are his largest donors, each donating $2,800.00

Magruder’s out-of-state donors who have contributed more than $250.00 are from Martins Ferry, Ohio, and Meadowlands, Pa. The vast majority of top-dollar contributions come from Wheeling itself, with other West Virginians from Moundsville and Clarksburg also donating. 

Hinebaugh, who reported just two donations through March 31, has an average donation of $400. Her campaign is 100% funded by donations above $250.00, and 89% of her campaign contributions are self-funded through loans.  

Her largest donor, Chris Miller, is a car salesman from Huntington, W.Va., and a Republican seeking his party’s nomination for the governor’s race.

Thalman has the largest average donation to his campaign at $477.36. His median donation is $250.00. Donations over $250.00 account for 80% of his campaign contributions, and Thalman’s largest donor is his mother, Vicki Thalman, who contributed $2,500.00. Further, Thalman’s family has donated  $10,600 to his campaign, or just under 40% of his contributions as of March 31.

Thirteen of Thalman’s twenty-three donations over $250.00 came from Wheeling, with the rest originating from Washington, D.C., Kitty Hawk, N.C., Cannonsburg, Pa., Pittsburgh, Pa., St. Clairsville, Ohio, and Jacobsburg, Ohio. 

A majority of these out-of-state donors are members of the Thalman family. 

Whoever wins the race for mayor on May 14 will assume office on July 1, 2024, and lead their first city council meeting on July 2. The race is almost certain to be a close call. 

Wheeling Free Press has extensively covered the mayoral candidates, including a story about the April 18 mayoral debate and interviews with all six of the candidates, Carl Carpenter, Beth Hinebaugh, Rosemary Ketchum, Denny Magruder, Chad Thalman, and JT Thomas. 

The financial disclosures for city council are more complicated. This reporter obtained copies of all candidate financial disclosures for the first quarter on April 26, 2024, a full eighteen days after the deadline to submit. 

At that time, only seven council candidates had financial disclosure reports available for review–Carlee Dittmar, Ward 2, Jerome Henry, Ward 3, Councilor Jerry Sklavounakis, Ward 4, Councilor Ty Thorngate and Julia Chaplin, Ward 5, and Councilor Dave Palmer and Nicholas McCort, Ward 6. Wheeling Free Press has asked the city clerk if any other disclosures for the first quarter were submitted, but at the time of publication no response was received. 

This is incredibly alarming as twelve of the nineteen candidates have not disclosed their campaign finances, in violation of state law. If a candidate cannot follow state law during the course of their campaign, how can voters be sure they will do so as elected representatives?