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Campaign finances signal competitive races
Story Date: 4/30/2010
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Source: NC Free Enterprise Foundation, 4/29/10
This week, candidates for the North Carolina General Assembly were required to file campaign finance reports with the State Board of Elections for the period of January 1, 2010 - April 17, 2010. Those reports are still coming in, but here is a snapshot of what we have seen so far:
IN THE SENATE:
Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight (D-Dare) raised over $500,000 during the reporting period and reported $725,000 cash on hand, while Senate Majority Leader Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncombe) raised $61,000 and ended the period with $88,170 in the bank. On the Republican side of the aisle, Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) raised $80,275 and reported $170,000 cash on hand. GOP Sen. Richard Stevens (R-Wake) held the largest campaign balance in his caucus with $178,000 after reimbursing himself $150,000 for personal funds previously loaned to his campaign.
Senate District 8 (Soles-D): Republican Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) had outspent primary opponent Bettie Fennell (R-Pender) by a 6 to 1 margin--$111,773 to $17,667. Rabon still had over $32,000, while Fennell reported less than $2,000 in the bank.
Senate District 9 (Boseman-D): Primary rivals Thom Goolsby (R-New Hanover) and Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) have spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars so far (Goolsby, $135,022 and Lee, $107,265). As of April 17, Goolsby reported $70,722 in the bank, while Lee reported $20,331.
Senate District 10 (Albertson-D): On the Democratic side, Dewey Hudson (D-Sampson) had outspent rival Gordon Vermillion (D-Lenoir) $41,222 to $21,426. Both reported less than $10,000 in the bank on April 17. On the Republican side, Brent Jackson (R-Sampson) had spent $110,982 compared to Chris Humphrey's (R-Lenoir) $51,567. Jackson reported an account balance exceeding $160,000 at the end of the reporting period, while Humphrey had only $349.
Senate District 21 (Shaw-D): In the 5-way Democratic race to succeed Sen. Larry Shaw in Cumberland County, Eric Mansfield spent the most during the first quarter, at $48,057, while challengers Lula Crenshaw and Curtis Worthy both spent a little more than $16,000 each, and Robert Evans expended $8099. Eugene Stackhouse's report was unavailable. Mansfield also reported the most remaining cash on hand with $19,560, while Crenshaw had $11,256. Both Worthy and Evans reported $200 or less in the bank.
Senate District 35 (Goodall-R): GOP candidate Tommy Tucker (R-Union) had outspent rival Fern Shubert (R-Union) by a 9-to-1 margin--$70,207 to $7,786. As of April 17, Tucker had $5,043 in his account compared to Shubert's $1,274.
Senate District 43 (Hoyle-D): In the GOP primary, Ken Bowen (R-Gaston) had outspent Rep. Wil Neumann (R-Gaston) $85,380 to $40,867, while campaign finance reports for Kathy Harrington (R-Gaston) and Jim England have yet to be posted. Neumann reported $12,689 on hand, compared to Bowen's $7,740.
IN THE HOUSE:
Speaker Joe Hackney (D-Orange) raised just over $170,000 and reported $555,497 on hand as of April 17, while House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson) raised close to $60,000 and reported $77,484 in the bank. Democratic incumbents Jim Crawford (D-Granville), Arthur Williams (D-Beaufort), Grier Martin (D-Wake), Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), Michael Wray (D-Northampton) and Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake) all reported campaign balances exceeding $100,000.
Republican House Minority Leader Skip Stam (R-Wake) raised $30,395 and reported a balance just shy of $25,000, while Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg), who is helping to lead the House Republican Caucus effort, reported raising $44,000 and having $87,138 in the bank. Only GOP Rep. Danny McComas (R-New Hanover) reported a campaign balance of more than $100,000, though Harold Brubaker (R-Randolph) reported $92,258 in the bank after spending close to $82,000 in his GOP primary race against Arnold Lanier, whose report has yet to be posted.
House District 15 (Grady-R): In the race to replace retiring Rep. Robert Grady (R-Onslow), three Republicans are raising and spending significant amounts of campaign cash, and for good reason: The winner of the GOP primary will not have a Democratic opponent in the fall. Phillip Shepard (R-Onslow) raised $56,804 and spent $42,630 in the first quarter of the year while Tracey Louise Miller (R-Onslow) took in $7,443 and doled out $10,969. However, the biggest spender in this race is Martin Aragona, Jr. (R-Onslow) who reported raising $76,276 (thanks in large part to a $67,000 loan) and spent $77,026.
House District 34 (Martin-D):The four-way GOP primary race to take on Rep. Grier Martin (D-Wake) recently turned into a three-way affair when Jamie Earp (R-Wake) withdrew his candidacy. Steve Henion (R-Wake) leads in most financial categories, taking in $19,477, spending $23,150, with $1,991 in cash on hand. Brian Tinga (R-Wake) only raised $230 and spent $5,371, but he had $2,253 in the bank. The report for JH Ross (R-Wake), the third GOP candidate, wasn't available.
House District 39 (Jackson-D):Appointed Rep. Darren Jackson (D-Wake) is facing stiff primary opposition from Jeanne Milliken Bonds (D-Wake). In the first quarter, Rep. Jackson reported raising $26,248 and spending $9,237 while Bonds took in $16,146 and spent $13,960. However, Rep. Jackson's real edge is in cash on hand, where he holds a $37,599 to $4,420 advantage.
House District 41 (Heagarty-D):In the highly competitive House District 41 seat currently held by appointed Rep. Chris Heagarty (D-Wake), a tight money contest between two of the three GOP candidates may foreshadow a nail biter of an election. Tom Murry (R-Wake) raised $32,316 and spent $23,573. His main primary opponent, Todd Batchelor (R-Wake), raised less, $14,025, but spent more, $32,085. Cash on hand totals may play a critical role in this race, as it's likely to come down to the wire. Murry has the edge with $26,644 in the bank and Batchelor reporting $6,295. A third GOP candidate, David Sloane (R-Wake), raised just $300, spent $141 and reported $159 in cash on hand.
House District 44 (Parfitt-D): A tight GOP primary race could be shaping up in House District 44 currently occupied by Rep. Diane Parfitt (D-Cumberland), who was appointed to replace Margaret Dickson when Dickson was appointed to the N.C. Senate. Brian Kent (R-Cumberland) raised $18,765 and spent $18,338, Johnny Dawkins (R-Cumberland) had $31,450 in receipts and $20,812 in disbursements, while Lois Kirby (R-Cumberland) took in $7,175 and spent $2,880. Dawkins had the largest reserves left in the bank with $10,638.
House District 55 (Wilkins-D):Rep. Winkie Wilkins (D-Person) appears to be taking his two primary opponents seriously as he has raised and spent significant sums already this year. He reported $47,780 in receipts and spent just a little more than that at $47,981, leaving him with $14,905 in the bank. Fred Foster, Jr. (D-Durham) took in $7,430 and only spent $1,670 on his campaign. R. Miles Standish's (D-Durham) campaign finance report was not available.
House District 61 (Wiley-R): In another GOP primary where the winner will head into the general election with no Democratic opposition, four Republicans are battling to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Laura Wiley (R-Guilford). This is a relatively low-budget affair. Gerald Grubb (R-Guilford) raised $2,142 and spent $4,324; John Faircloth (R-Guilford) took in $7,650 and reported just $2,905 in disbursements, Paul Norcross (R-Guilford) had the largest amount of receipts and expenditures, collected $22,389 and spent $18,607 on his campaign (in addition to paying back $3,700 of a loan, bringing his total to $22,307), and Georgia Nixon-Roney (R-Guilford) amassed $13,072 for the quarter while spending $10,129.
House District 81 (Holliman-D):In the race to take on House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman (D-Davidson), Republicans Rayne Brown (R-Davidson) and Fred McClure (R-Davidson) reported raising nearly identical amounts, $2,068 and $2,064, respectively. Both Republican hopefuls spent relatively small amounts during the first quarter, with Brown at $1,563 and McClure at $3,609. McClure, however, maintains a 5-to-1 edge in cash on hand.
House District 103 (Gulley-R): In retiring-Rep. Jim Gulley's (R-Mecklenburg) seat, the general election will likely be hard fought, but the two GOP candidates aren't raising or spending much cash. Lloyd Austin (R-Mecklenburg) raised $5,297 and spent $2,841 on his campaign while Bill Brawley (R-Mecklenburg) took in $7,085 but reported spending only $275.
House District 110 (Burris-Floyd-R): In Rep. Pearl Burris-Floyd's (R-Gaston) first re-election campaign, she reported raising $25,188 and spending $18,799 this quarter. She has $17,677 in the bank. She faces primary opposition from Kelly Hastings (R-Gaston) who reported raising $3,090 and spending $1,976, leaving him with $2,364 in cash on hand.
House District 112 (England-D): There is a four-way GOP primary to see who will have the right to carry the Republican banner in retiring-Rep. Bob England's (D-Rutherford) district. However, this race didn't attracting much money in the first quarter. No candidate raised more than $7,600 or spent more than $6,800.
PARTY MONEY:
During the reporting period, the State Democratic Party raised $326,689, spent $384,871, and ended the period with $217,973 in the bank. At the same time, the State Republican Party raised $240,934, spent $118,082, and reported $270,812 cash on hand as of April 17. It is interesting to note that 85 percent of the Democratic Party's funds came from Political Action Committees (PACs), while half of the Republican Party's receipts came from PACs and the other half came from individual contributors.
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