How Atrium Health helped fund the Charlotte City Council election

By the numbers: The PAC dispersed $16,000 to six candidates in the 2022 council race, according to its filing with the Federal Election Commission. It’s a notable contrast from the $8,500 spent among 16 hopefuls in 2019.

Of note: Atrium Health did not respond to requests for comment.

Mayor Vi Lyles and District 2 representative Malcolm Graham, both of whom are Democrats, were the top beneficiaries, receiving $4,000 each from the hospital system’s PAC.

• Graham has had the PAC’s support since his 2008 re-election to state senate, filings show. This year’s donation to his campaign was an increase from $500 in 2019.
• Lyles’ campaign committees accepted $1,000 in 2017 and 2019 for her first two mayoral races. The PAC also backed her 2017 Republican opponent, Kenny Smith.

Why it matters: Atrium Health is one of the top employers in the region and leads health care locally. Naturally, city leaders could wind up making multi-million dollar decisions (and they have recently) that impact the hospital.

• It’s common for health care industry professionals and PACs to finance elections, especially after COVID-19. Donations associated with nursing homes and hospitals skyrocketed from a record of $35 million in 2016 to $111 million in 2020.
• Novant Health does not have a PAC, but its executives contribute to candidates from time to time. For example, vice president and chief consumer officer Jesse Cureton gave $500 to Larken Egleston’s (D) campaign, according to filings with the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

What they’re saying: Graham told Axios he was unsure why he received the largest donation of all of the council candidates but mentioned Atrium has always been supportive of him.

• Lyles spokesperson LaToya Evans said, “Atrium is a great supporter of Charlotte’s leadership and appeared to incrementally increase their donations for a number of candidates in the 2022 election.”
• (Axios reached out to several other candidates who said they also did not have insight on the PAC’s strategy.)

At-large electees Dimple Ajmera (D), the top vote-getter in the race, and James “Smuggie” Mitchell (D) secured $2,000 each — an increase from the $500 contributions both received in 2019 and 2017.

• Victoria Watlington (D), the District 3 representative, received $2,000, also up from $500 the first year she ran in 2019.
• Egleston, who came up short in the Democratic primary for council at large, got a $2,000 boost.

But some candidates who received contributions in the past did not receive the PAC’s financial support this time around. Council members Braxton Winston (D), Tariq Bokhari (Republican) and Ed Driggs (R) all took in $500 from the PAC in 2017 and 2019 but had no contributions reported in their filings from the Atrium Health PAC ahead of the July 2022 election.

• District 4 representative Renee Perkins Johnson (D) also got $500 during her first run in 2019 but nothing this year.

• LaWana Mayfield (R) got $500 in 2017 but had no support from the PAC in the 2022 race.

The big picture: It appears from campaign finance reports the PAC was intensifying its funding while being more selective of candidates, as opposed to giving out checks to every council contender as it had done in the past two elections.

• In 2017 the PAC supported chipped in $500 each to 20 council candidate campaigns and $1,000 for each potential mayor.
• In 2019 it boosted all city campaigns except mayor candidate David Michael Rice, who was far behind Lyles in the competition.

Between the lines: PACs are organized to raise and donate money to candidates in the interest of ideologies, businesses or industries. Most of the Atrium Health PAC money comes from high-ranking executives, like CEO Eugene Woods, filings show.

• The PAC formed in 2006 and started to pour money into the campaign coffers of Dan Bishop and Jennifer Roberts as they ran for county commission, filings show.
• The PAC is also contributing to candidates for state legislature and congress.

Flashback: One of the biggest recent decisions Charlotte City Council made regarding Atrium Health was passing an incentive package for “The Pearl,” its $1.5-billion innovation district and medical school campus.

• Between the county and city, the public incentives are worth $75 million and will bankroll new parking and infrastructure upgrades.
• Some neighbors vocalized concerns about the impacts on the surrounding neighborhood, but the project was also seen as an economic driver and job generator.
• City council members passed the deal unanimously in November 2021. Mecklenburg County leaders were more hesitant about the usage of public money and voted 6-2.