Story By Mary Bailey
As the Fort Payne Mayoral race intensives with only days to go before elections the battle for who gets the seat by voting citizens is not only being waged with debates but with dollars.
According to the Alabama FCPA website, the total raised between incumbent Brian Baines and Gordon “Pete” Davis for this election cycle has been $10,798.49.
Davis’s monetary contributions are standing at $2,100 which is a stark comparison to Baine’s contributions at $8,698.49.
A $5,000 contribution from MTN. LTD to Brian Baine on June 27 is now going viral and numerous community members are weighing in.
The Times Journal decided to dig deeper into the details.
Drinkard Development, a commercial real estate company based in Cullman, is connected to the Alabama limited partnership MTN, LTD through joint business ventures. The companies partner on specific real estate development projects, particularly for retail centers. Developmental projects include the new Food City on Gault Ave and the DeKalb Plaza, both totaling close to $5 million dollars upon completion.
In February of 2022, the Fort Payne City Council voted 3-2 to approve a memorandum of understanding with Marathon Realty Corp to spend $3.1 million toward the cost of constructing the Food City grocery store.
Mayor Brian Baine did not directly vote on the matter but his position as mayor had veto authority, yet he chose not to exercise his veto.
During that meeting Foodland founder Shan Bruce said his family would not stop fighting the plan, which he felt was unfair by essentially giving Food City a “$3 million head start” against him.
Several community members and business leaders spoke in opposition to the memorandum including former Alabama State Senator Lowell Barron and former Alabama State Representative and Minority Leader Craig Ford, who also serves as the current mayor of Gadsden.
Many also spoke in favor of the Bruce family, which operates Food City’s competitor Bruce’s Foodland.
Others spoke in favor of Bobby Ledbetter’s Twin City Used Cars, whose dealership was forced to relocate from the property, which was leased to him by none other than Drinkard Development.
The Times Journal reached out Brian Baine numerous times to get more information about this specific campaign donation and others, but Mr. Baine failed to respond.
Additionally, the Times Journal reached out to other incumbent Fort Payne City council members running for re-election including Lynn Brewer and John Smith but those calls were also not answered.
Fort Payne City Council president and candidate Walter Watson did speak with us and said he had only received a campaign donation of $500 but has yet to make any campaign finance reports. Watson also stated that he has had no communications with anyone regarding the Drinkard Development donation and he has not received any money from them.
We will continue to investigate and have an additional story including the Fort Payne City Council finance reports.
Brian Baine: June 2025 Monthly Campaign Finance Report:
Contributions:
Brian Baine: Self Loan 6/16/25 $200.00
Brian Baine: Self Loan 6/27/25 $2,578.49
MTN LTD: Business/Corporation $5,000.00
Robert Ray: Individual 6/27/25. 250.00
August, 1 Weekly Finance Report:
Vistone Capital Partners, LLC: Business/Corporation $250.00
Non-itemized cash Contributions: $420.00
Total: $8,698.49 Monetary Contributions
Total: $5,859.77 Monetary Expenditures
Ending funds on hand: $2,838.72
Gordon “Pete” Davis: June 2025 Monthly Campaign Finance Report:
In-Kind Contributions: Gordon Davis, Jr. $1,887.74
Non-itemized cash Contributions: $100.00
August 1st Weekly Finance Report:
In-Kind Contributions: Gordon Davis, Jr. $2,318.85
Contributions:
Susan Mitchell: Individual $250.00
Sabrina Hunter: Individual $300.00
Pat Taylor: Individual $400.00
Dr. Scott Thompson: Individual $500.00
Harold Ganje: Individual $200.00
Vistone Capital: Business/Corporation $250.00
August 8th Weekly Finance Report:
In-Kind Contributions: Gordon Davis, Jr. $1,846.79, Phillip McClendon $585.00
August 15th Weekly Finance Report:
In-Kind Contributions: Gordon Davis, Jr. $2,031.04
Non-itemized cash Contributions: $100.00
Total: $2,100.00 Monetary Contributions
Total: $1,745.25 Monetary Expenditures
Non-monetary Contributions: $10,847.40
Ending funds on hand: $354.75
