Paul Fitts, a mortgage lender, is the only Republican candidate for Raleigh mayor this election cycle. For Fitts, the primary concerns in this election are Raleigh’s public safety, the economy and housing.

The decision to run for mayor was an easy one for Fitts. He said he feels public safety hasn’t been a focus of Raleigh’s city council. 

Fitts said Raleigh is experiencing a lack of police officers. Currently, there are 800 police officers for Raleigh’s population of nearly 500,000.

“These people cannot work efficiently and effectively as they should,” Fitts said. “Maybe they become more stressed. Maybe they become more trigger-happy because they’re overworked, they’re underpaid. We have to give them a break.”

To remedy this, Fitts said Raleigh needs a minimum of 400 more police officers, which he plans to fund through diversifying tax bases.

One way Fitts said he plans to accomplish this is through property taxes for tax-exempt state-owned properties such as UNC System schools. Fitts said North Carolina owns 161 properties in Raleigh, which would add up to around $150 million in property taxes.

“If I stop paying $150 million a year in property taxes, I’d have a lot more money left in my bank,” Fitts said. “The point is they need to relinquish those properties to the city so at no land acquisition costs, we build properties there.”

Fitts said he believes taxing these non-taxable spaces are important to Raleigh’s citizens.

“It puts an unfair burden on some people, and I feel like if we focus on broadening our tax base and the issues that are necessary, it helps everybody,” Fitts said. 

Fitts said another way is through expanding tax bases by creating housing, which he says he’s uniquely qualified for due to helping house people as a mortgage lender for over 25 years.

“Nobody who’s running for office right now has put more people in houses than I have,” Fitts said. “So I feel like I have an eye and a talent for actually figuring out how to make housing affordable and available.”

Fitts said to create more room for housing, he plans to move prisoners from the NC Correctional Institution for Women and Raleigh’s Central Prison outside Raleigh, replacing the prisons with townhouses and condos.

“They’re all completely underutilized properties,” Fitts said. “If we make the city of Raleigh more livable again, we’ll have businesses come back and make our city more viable.”

Fitts said he would ideally move prisoners from these prisons to recently decommissioned prisons in rural areas such as Hoke Correctional Institution in Raeford, NC, which closed in 2022.

Fitts said he intends to increase Raleigh’s funding through establishing a casino in Raleigh. Fitts said he believes this will enrich Raleigh’s nightlife, create over 5,000 new jobs and draw more visitors into Raleigh.

“I think it would add to what our city looks for,” Fitts said. “I think a casino would bring in more conventions as well. That way, when we’re booking conventions, somebody will say, ‘Hey, they’ve got this in Raleigh. Let’s go check it out.’”

As for transportation, Fitts said he believes the city should subsidize rideshares to save money on buses.

“I think it’s a better way to look at transit versus more buses or anything like that,” Fitts said. “Buses take up a lot of space. They pollute a lot of energy. It’s a better way to look at it. It’s an infrastructure that’s already in place.”

Fitts said being mayor embodies the idea that, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

“The problem is, I feel like people have had the power, but they haven’t used it responsibly,” Fitts said. “And I think the responsibility needs to be taken more seriously.”

Fitts said he wants voters to consider his policies regardless of their party.

“It shouldn’t be about who it is or where I’m from,” Fitts said. “It’s does the message align with somebody’s values? Does somebody understand the practical application involved? … Doesn’t matter what party they are, where they live or what they look like, if we can alleviate their pocketbook issues, they’ll be able to afford gas and groceries again.”