With the exception of a few dozen small donations from locals, Knightdale's two candidates for mayor - Russell Killen and Jun Lee - have depended mostly on their professional peers to fund their campaigns, finance reports show.

Killen, the incumbent, has banked the bulk of his campaign cash - about $10,000 - from local builders and developers as well as his coworkers at Parker Poe, a legal firm with offices in Raleigh and Charlotte.

More than 20 Parker Poe employees have given nearly $2,500.

Employees at Wake Stone Corp., a Knightdale quarry, Preston Development, and Wardson Construction have given more than $4,300 to Killen.

Each of those companies has done business in Knightdale since Killen was elected in 2007.

Preston Development and Wardson Construction are currently working on a joint, mixed use project in Knightdale which includes the site of a future YMCA.

Wardson Construction also developed Princeton Manor on Hodge Road.

Meanwhile, Lee - who owns and operates Black Belt World, a Knightdale martial arts studio - has stuffed his coffer with donations from the Asian business community.

Folks like Byong Kuk Kang, of Cary, who is listed as self employed in finance reports, gave $1,000 to Lee. Chan Ho, another self employed Cary man, gave Lee $2,000.

But unlike Killen, some of Lee's money has come from out-of-state donors who live in places like Maryland, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.

Lee has collected about $23,000 in total donations.

Historic proportions

It remains to be seen whether the extra funding and energy surrounding the mayoral race will lead to the town's highest voter turnout.

This year's mayoral race will likely go down as the costliest in eastern Wake history.

Killen and Lee, to date, have out-raised their counterparts in larger towns such as Fuquay-Varina and Apex - a town three times the population of Knightdale.

Bryan Gossage and incumbent Keith Weatherly raised a total of $28,000 as of Oct. 5, the date of their last filed finance reports.

Experts say voters are likely to be turned-off by heavy outsider influence in local politics.

But Knightdale, a town of 11,000-plus, only needs about 10 percent of it's population to vote to break the mayoral race turnout records.

About 1,040 participated in the 2003 race, when Doug Boyd beat out Mike Chalk.

Back then, the population was about 7,000 people.