Incumbent Russell Killen has raised $5,200. His challenger, Jun Lee, who owns and operates Black Belt World in Knightdale, has collected $8,000.

None of their donors live in Knightdale, according to campaign records filed with the Wake County board of elections.

And the candidates' funding sources are widely varied.

Killen, a registered independent, has pulled his biggest donations - equaling $3,000 - from four employees at a Knightdale company: Wake Stone Corporation, a quarry which produces crushed stone.

John Bratton, Samuel Bratton, Theodore Bratton and Thomas Oxholm of Wake Stone each has donated $750. All live in Raleigh.

Killen says another $2,200 has come from his associates at Parker Poe, a Raleigh law firm. None of the contributors from Parker Poe live in Knightdale, he says.

Half of Jun Lee's donors live outside of North Carolina and have contributed $2,500 to his campaign.

Son Ja Kim, of YK Kim Productions in Florida, has given $1,000 to Lee. Seong Ji, of Major Tae Kwon-Do in Georgia, donated $500.

Hyeon Lee, Jun's brother and owner of HK Lee Tae Kwon-Do in Virginia, also donated $1,000. Lee's other brother, Sang Ho Lee of Burlington, has given $2,000.

Lee, a registered Democrat, has also received a total of $3,500 from Triangle business owners Chan Ho of Cary, and Nam Kil Chung and Charles Kang of Raleigh.

Voters may be turned off by the sway of outsiders in their hometown politics, says Andy Taylor, political science expert at N.C. State University.

"For a mayoral race in a municipality of Knightdale's size, that's a lot of money," Taylor said. "If voters believe that campaign contributions effect elections, they could make the argument that individuals outside of Knightdale are most influencing the outcome."

Killen and Lee say their support from outside Knightdale allows them time to solicit ideas - instead of dollars - from residents.

"Lee would rather focus on spending time with members of the community, listening to their issues and needs ... letting his family and friends to fund his campaign to this point" Lee's spokesman, Mike Gould said.

"It's uncomfortable for me to ask people I represent for money," Killen said.

Although their fundraising philosophies are similar, their strategies for spending campaign dollars have differed.

Killen has spent about $2,000 on his campaign. Most of it was used to pay for yard signs and palm cards.

Lee, on the other hand, has used all but $800 of his $8,000 - the bulk of which has gone to pay Gould, his campaign consultant. Gould's 20-year political experience includes running for Wake County school board in 2005 and volunteering on the campaign trail for former New York Gov. George Pataki and President Barack Obama.

Lee also used campaign dollars to pay for palm cards, yard signs, car magnets, and design for his campaign website.

Killen says he has no campaign consultant. As of July 30, he had $4,300 remaining in his campaign coffers. The election is Nov. 8.