See the latest fundraising hauls in races for NC governor, attorney general and more
Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein raised 11 times more than Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson this quarter in the governor’s race, newly released campaign finance reports show.
Between July 1 and Oct. 19, Stein, who had already amassed a significant fundraising lead over Robinson, raised $44.6 million.
During that same period, the third quarter of campaign finance reporting this year, Robinson brought in just over $4 million.
Stein, who has held a commanding lead in the polls throughout the fall, spent an even greater $59.3 million during the third quarter, while Robinson, whose campaign was rocked last month by a CNN report alleging that he made a series of racist, sexually graphic, and antisemitic online posts a decade ago, spent $9.9 million.
The Democrat ended the third quarter with $1.2 million on hand, almost double the $680,641 Robinson reported.
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Democrat Mo Green has a nearly 10 to 1 fundraising lead over Republican Michele Morrow in the race for state superintendent for public instruction.
Green has raised nearly $3 million in this election, compared to $371,000 for Morrow. The lead was even more noticeable during the third quarter, when Green raised $2 million to the $116,000 for Morrow.
Green’s biggest donor by far has been the North Carolina Democratic Leadership Committee, which has given him $500,000. Green has also received nearly $25,000 from the state Democratic Party.
Morrow has received nearly 9% of her total contributions from two conservative Raleigh couples. She has received $18,800 from businessman Bob Luddy and his wife and $12,800 from developer John Kane and his wife.
Attorney General
In the attorney general’s race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson continued to out-raise Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop — but they were much more evenly matched in financial support than the candidates for governor or superintendent.
Jackson raised $8.25 million in the third quarter, giving him a total fundraising haul of $15.4 million over the course of his campaign. The Democrat spent a total of $11.3 million during the third quarter, and reported having just under $2.6 million on hand.
Bishop, meanwhile, raised just under $6 million during the third quarter. Over the course of the entire election, his campaign brought in nearly $9 million.
During the third quarter, Bishop spent a little more than $7 million, leaving him with $1.5 million in the bank.
On top of the spending by both two campaigns, their allied groups, the Democratic and Republican Attorneys General Associations, have poured millions more into the race to air TV ads.
RAGA, for example, had directed $6.9 million to the race through the Safer North Carolina PAC as of Oct. 23, a recent campaign finance filing showed. DAGA, on the other hand, had transferred more then $4.4 million to the race through the DAGA North Carolina People’s Lawyer Project, according to an Oct. 26 filing with the State Board of Elections.
In total, Jackson and Bishop’s campaigns, and the PACs supporting them, were expected to spend at least $31 million on both TV and online advertising, the Associated Press reported earlier this week, citing data from the firm AdImpact, which tracks political ad spending.
That’s a sharp increase from total spending during the 2020 attorney general race, which was decided by just 13,622 votes, or 0.26%. During that race, Democrats vastly outspent Republicans, roughly $12 million to $2 million, according to AdImpact.
Lieutenant Governor
The two major party candidates in the lieutenant governor’s race are Republican Hal Weatherman and Democrat Rachel Hunt, who is also a state senator.
Their fundraising numbers were similar in the latest period, but Hunt spent more.
Weatherman’s report shows he raised $709,000 this quarter, and spent $633,000. He reported having $190,000 cash on hand.
Hunt’s report shows she raised $686,000 this quarter, and spent $998,000. She had $90,000 cash on hand, about half as much as Weatherman.
NC Supreme Court
In the only state Supreme Court race this year, Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs has raised over double the amount of her challenger, Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.
Since the election began, Riggs, who was appointed to the high court by Gov. Roy Cooper last year, has raised over $4.5 million. After spending over $3.3 million, Riggs now has $1.2 million left on hand.
Griffin, who has been on the Court of Appeals since 2021, has raised nearly $2 million this election. He has spent over $1.4 million of that, leaving him with about $530,000 on hand.
Auditor
Republican Dave Boliek significantly out-raised the Democratic incumbent, Jessica Holmes, who is running for a full four-year term after being appointed by Cooper to replace Beth Wood last year.
Boliek raised $571,000 in the third quarter, more than Holmes raised during that same period ($191,000), and during the entire election ($369,000). Boliek has raised a total of $1.58 million since the election began.
He spent nearly $530,000 this quarter, and reported having just over $104,000 on hand. Holmes spent just over $214,000 this quarter, and had a little less than $90,000 on hand.
Libertarian Bob Drach reported raising a total of nearly $25,000 since the election began, and reported spending nearly all of it, leaving him with $1,800 in the bank.
Treasurer
In the race to replace departing Treasurer Dale Folwell, Democrat Wesley Harris raised $513,000 this quarter. In total, he had raised $1.3 million this election. During the third quarter, Harris spent nearly $575,000, and reported having $213,000 on hand.
Republican Brad Briner, meanwhile, raised $437,000 this quarter, for a total of $1.87 million over the course of the election.
Briner spent significantly more than Harris this quarter — around $814,000 — but reported having less on hand: $126,000.
Secretary of State
The most recent campaign finance report for Elaine Marshall, the Democratic incumbent secretary of state, was not available on the elections board’s website as of Thursday evening.
Her opponent, Republican Chad Brown, has raised nearly $155,000 in total this election. He’s spent about $127,000, leaving him with nearly $29,000 on hand.
Insurance Commissioner
In the insurance commissioner race, Republican incumbent Mike Causey has been slightly out-raised by his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Natasha Marcus.
Marcus, who announced her campaign to challenge Causey after being drawn out of her Senate seat, has raised nearly $745,000 in total this election. Causey, who has served as insurance commissioner since 2017, has raised about $442,000 overall.
Labor Commissioner
Republican Luke Farley raised just over $600,000 in the third quarter, for a total fundraising haul this election of almost $910,000. He spent nearly $493,000 this quarter, and reported having $242,000 on hand.
A fundraising report for Democrat Braxton Winston for the third quarter was not available as of Thursday evening.
Agriculture Commissioner
Steve Troxler, the Republican incumbent agriculture commissioner, has out-raised his Democratic opponent, Sarah Taber, by about $300,000.
Throughout the election, Troxler has raised nearly $800,000 total, most of which has already been spent – leaving him with about $54,000 on hand.
Taber has raised nearly $500,000 this election and spent about $410,000. She has about $84,000 left on hand.
