Cooper and Democrats are out-raising GOP opponents as these NC campaigns get started
Updated July 30, 2019, with the latest campaign filings.
Democratic Party candidates have a sizable fundraising advantage in several Council of State races, including the campaign for governor.
Campaign finance reports are being released this week for the first half of 2019, offering a glimpse of how the races are going — as well as which candidates in contested primaries could be frontrunners.
In the race for governor, incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper raised $4.8 million in the six-month period, with a total of $5.6 million in his account as of June 30. Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, who plans to formally launch his gubernatorial campaign in August, posted $1.33 million raised and $1.01 million cash on hand.
A second Republican candidate, state Rep. Holly Grange, announced she would run for governor after the six-month period ended.
The Democratic Governors Association highlighted the numbers in a news release, calling Forest’s numbers “floundering” and noting that Cooper’s total exceeds his numbers from the same period in the 2016 campaign cycle.
The Council of State is made up of the 10 executive positions that are elected statewide: governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, secretary of state, auditor, and commissioners of labor, agriculture and insurance.
Lieutenant governor
The crowded primaries for lieutenant governor feature a wide range of fundraising success. Bill Toole, an environmental lawyer who served on Belmont’s City Council and previously chaired the Gaston County Democratic Party, is leading the Democratic field with $308,331 raised so far, although $100,000 of that total is a loan from the candidate himself. Toole’s campaign said in a news release that he “has distinguished himself by proposing detailed policy positions on issues ranging from cannabis to the environmental.”
Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, is a close second in fundraising with $244,481 raised so far in 2019 — which would put her in the lead if you factor out Toole’s self-funding. Her campaign press release says that her numbers make her “the clear frontrunner.” Rep. Chaz Beasley, D-Mecklenburg, was third with $105,923, (including a $32,000 loan from himself), and Rep. Yvonne Holley, D-Wake, was fourth with $38,360. Reports were not yet available for Allen Thomas, a Hoke County commissioner.
On the Republican side, former state Rep. Scott Stone, R-Mecklenburg, raised $129,613, including $50,000 he lent his campaign. New Bern businessman Buddy Bengel raised $94,246. Former U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers raised $63,181, while former Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran trailed with $2,075. Greg Gebhardt, a former aide to state Rep. David Lewis, and Greensboro gun rights activist Mark Robinson entered the race after the finance reporting period ended.
State treasurer
In the race for state treasurer, incumbent Republican Dale Folwell raised substantially less than the two Democrats seeking to unseat him. Folwell raised $6,835 (but had $32,913 on hand at the end of the reporting period), while Duke University business professor Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji raised $355,244 (including a $150,000 loan from himself), and Matthew Leatherman, a former policy director for former treasurer Janet Cowell, raised $48,133.
Insurance commissioner
Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican, raised $11,560, while his predecessor Democrat Wayne Goodwin — now serving as chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party — raised $35,628 in the first half of 2019 and has $233,249 in his campaign bank account. Goodwin told the NC Insider on Monday that he’s considering running in 2020 for his old job. “Based on encouragement from family, close friends, and longtime supporters, I am exploring a run for a third term in 2020,” he said. “I will not make a final decision until later.”
Attorney general
In the attorney general’s race, incumbent Democrat Josh Stein raised a total of $1.48 million, with $2.57 million cash on hand — well ahead of the $229,077 posted by Stein’s only announced Republican challenger so far, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill.
Superintendent of public instruction
In a crowded Democratic primary for superintendent of public instruction, UNC-Greensboro professor Jen Mangrum (a former Senate challenger for Senate leader Phil Berger) has a fundraising lead with $48,401. Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board member James Barrett raised $18,477, Wake County school board member Keith Sutton raised $15,097, and Amy Jablonski raised $1,577.
None raised as much as Republican Mark Johnson, who took in $113,130 and ended the first half of 2019 with $222,550 in his account.
Labor commissioner
Incumbent Republican Cherie Berry, whose face became recognizable to everyone who rode an elevator and saw her photo in it, is not running for reelection.
Wake County Commissioners Chair Jessica Holmes, a Democrat, announced her first statewide campaign in February, The News & Observer previously reported. This is her first run for statewide office, and the second Wake County elected official to run for statewide office in 2020, after Sutton for superintendent.
Holmes’ Republican opponent is state Rep. Josh Dobson, who announced his campaign after Berry said this spring she wouldn’t run. Dobson started his campaign with $78,000 and has raised $16,600 from individual donors and $19,400 from political committees. Dobson, who lives in Marion, chairs the House Appropriations and Health committees.
Holmes started off with about $57,000 and her fundraising has surpassed Dobson’s so far. Holmes has received $64,454 in donations from individuals and $3,121 from political committees. Holmes’ individual donors include several from local and state elected officials as well as former Gov. Jim Hunt.
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 12:27 PM.