Last reports before NC Senate election show who’s giving to Ted Budd, Cheri Beasley
The final campaign finance reports before Election Day show Democratic Senate nominee Cheri Beasley continuing to outraise her Republican opponent, Rep. Ted Budd.
On Thursday, the Federal Election Commission required candidates to submit reports to mark how much they raised, spent and the amount of cash they have left. The reports include data through Oct. 19.
Beasley reported having $3 million cash on hand after raising $34.2 million during her campaign.
Budd has $1.2 million cash on hand after raising $12.6 million.
From Oct. 1 to Oct. 19, Beasley’s campaign took in $4.9 million to Budd’s $1.4 million.
“Twelve days before the election, it’s clear that no amount of bad faith campaigning and cozying up to special interests can hide the fact that Congressman Budd is a wildly out-of-step, corrupt, and extremist politician who has lost the support of North Carolinians,” said Beasley’s campaign manager Travis Brimm, in a written statement.
Beasley and Budd face off Nov. 8 to replace retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr.
Beasley has continued to outperform Budd in spending, but Budd recently gained a narrow lead on Beasley in polling. Budd’s largest lead came in an East Carolina University poll that showed him up 50% to Beasley’s 44%.
“Voters care about who is going to stop skyrocketing inflation and violent crime, not FEC reports,” said Jonathan Felts, senior advisor to Budd. “Cheri Beasley has been soft on crime and has embraced Joe Biden’s bad economic policies and that’s why Ted Budd wins on Election Day.”
North Carolina is considered a battleground state, and its largest voting group is made up of unaffiliated voters — those who aren’t registered with a particular party. Neither candidate has set themselves apart as a clear front runner in the race.
The 2020 election between Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and his Democratic opponent, Cal Cunningham, became the most expensive race in the country at more than $271 million spent between outside groups and the candidates. The race between Beasley and Budd is on track to fall short of the 2020 number.
Top contributors
Open Secrets breaks down a candidate’s top contributors based on money given through the organization’s PACs, members, affiliated groups, employees, owners or immediate family members. Open Secrets makes clear the money in its rankings may not come from the organization or company itself.
Budd’s top contributor, Club for Growth, a conservative super PAC, has supported his campaigns since he first ran for Congress.
Here are the top five contributors who gave money to Budd:
- Club for Growth: $261,567
- Senate Conservative Fund $161,693
- Truist Financial $25,700
- Saulsbury Industries: $23,200
- Budd Group: $22,800
Open Secrets’ data has not been updated to include Thursday’s report and only includes money that came in through Sept. 30.
Beasley’s top contributor, Emily’s List, is a super PAC helping liberal women who support abortion rights get elected. Here’s who Open Secrets says are Beasley’s top contributors:
- Emily’s List: $290,867
- University of North Carolina $180,269
- Duke University: $157,085
- Democracy Engine: $148,630
- J Street: $79,657
Breakdown of who is giving
Open Secrets breaks down the totals even further — special interest groups contributing, whether money came from in-state and how much was spent in support or opposition of the candidate.
Beasley’s funding came mostly from retirees and special interest groups, including law firms and those focused on Democratic, women’s and educational issues. Budd also received the majority of his money from retirees, though his special interest groups had focuses on Republican, real estate, security and investment issues. He also received contributions from leadership PACs — committees usually run by federal candidates or office holders for the benefit of others.
The majority of the money Beasley raised came from out of state, and the majority of Budd’s came from in state, according to Open Secrets.
From the start of Beasley’s campaign through Sept. 30, she had $5.5 million in outside spending supporting her campaign, but $44 million spent opposing her. Budd, on the other hand, had $21 million in outside spending in support of his campaign and only $15 million spent against him.
Campaign expenses
FEC reports can tell a lot about a candidate’s personality and their campaign organization.
Beasley’s campaign often paid legal firms, including Elias Law and Perkins Coie. Beasley’s team paid more than $16,000 to Elias Law Firm in the first 19 days of October alone. Marc Elias is a Democrat often at the center of redistricting lawsuits around the country, and helped Beasley’s team navigate stopping an ad from airing in North Carolina that included false statements about a Supreme Court case Beasley helped determine.
Beasley employed a makeup artist ahead of major events. She is partial to using Lyft, where Budd more often uses Uber. Beasley’s campaign also paid for translation services more than once.
She doesn’t often expense food but Raleigh restaurants The Big Easy, where she spent $77 this month, and The Raleigh Times, where she spent $47 in October, made multiple appearances in finance reports.
Unlike Beasley, Budd’s campaign expenses food purchases often.
Finance reports show the Budd campaign often gets coffee or food at Starbucks, spending nearly $100 in the first 19 days of October, and eats Chick-Fil-A, where he spent $173.77 in that same time. When in D.C. he gravitated toward District Taco, where he spent nearly $140 this month during two visits.
Budd’s campaign expensed food at steak restaurants and ate at Bill and Giuliana Rancic’s RPM Italian D.C. restaurant. Bill Rancic was the first winner of former President Donald Trump’s TV show, The Apprentice.
Trump has endorsed Budd throughout his campaign helping to bolster him past his primary opponents into the general.
This story was originally published October 28, 2022 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Last reports before NC Senate election show who’s giving to Ted Budd, Cheri Beasley."