Money chase ramps up as primary nears

Attorney General Roy Cooper has continued to raise money at an aggressive clip in his campaign for governor of North Carolina. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and Deborah Ross, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge him, have raised the most money in that race.

That’s what the latest finance reports show one week out from the primary election. The state reports were due on Monday, and the federal reports last Thursday, but not all of them have appeared yet the election agencies’ websites.

Cooper has consistently led Gov. Pat McCrory in fundraising, and on Monday his campaign reported raising another $1.1 million since the first of the year. He has $5.7 million cash on hand, which is an increase of $800,000.

Cooper’s campaign says 80 percent of his contributors gave in amounts of $100 or less, and that he received contributions from more than 6,000 people in the past two months.

“With the help of our grassroots supporters, today’s numbers again show North Carolinians all across the state are ready for a change of leadership,” Jamal Little, campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “Governor McCrory is the most vulnerable incumbent in the country, and it’s clear that voters are ready for a state that works for everyone, not just the select few.”

In December, Politico said the McCrory-Cooper matchup would be the most competitive governor race with an incumbent in the country.

The McCrory campaign didn’t release its numbers early. Spokesman Ricky Diaz said the report reflects only a partial quarter.

“The campaign is overwhelmed by the outpouring support for the governor's agenda and will report strong fund-raising numbers,” Diaz said in an email.

At the end of last year, Cooper reported having $4.9 million and McCrory reported $4.1 million.

A number of reports have been posted on the Federal Election Commission’s website, including Greg Brannon’s campaign for the Republican nomination for Burr’s seat. Brannon reports all of the nearly $170,000 he raised so far this year has come from individual contributors. Brannon has less than $37,000 on hand.

Burr reports receiving $519,000 this year, with $5.3 million going into the final days before the primary. Ross received $342,000 and has $292,000 — far less than Burr’s war chest — on hand.

Reports in the race for U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers’ seat have not yet been posted.

Although the pre-primary reports are in, candidates are still raising money, which they have to report within a day or two leading up to Election Day. And many campaigns are urgently calling for last-minute money.

Last week, McCrory took in about $31,000 over two days, including from the N.C. Homebuilders Association and business owners. Cooper’s campaign collected about $27,000 over three days from a variety of contributors, including a number of lawyers.

A large engineering, architecture and construction firm, HNTB, based in Kansas City, chipped in $2,000 last week to the effort to convince voters to approve $2 billion in borrowing for infrastructure projects around the state.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Money chase ramps up as primary nears."