Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein (L) and Lt. Governor Mark Robinson (R) (File photos)
Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein raised 11 times as much as his Republican opponent Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the North Carolina gubernatorial contest during the third quarter, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Stein received $44.6 million in the fundraising period between July 1 and Oct. 19 while Robinson brought in about $4 million. Reports for the third quarter were due earlier this week.
The Democrat’s bank account already greatly exceeded Robinson’s heading into the final fundraising period before the election.
Stein also spent nearly six times more than Robinson during the period. The attorney general reported expending about $59 million, listing ad buys, payroll, campaign merchandise, software fees, and the like.
He has $2.2 million left in the bank.
Robinson’s campaign spent just under $10 million in the third quarter. His largest individual expense was for online advertising.
He also had four expenditures marked as “legal expense.” Two of these took place in July for a combined value of $11,000.
His campaign reported paying $100,000 to Binnall Law Group in Alexandria, Virginia on Sept. 24 — his attorney in his defamation lawsuit against CNN is Jesse Binnall — and $18,000 to Dickinson Wright PLLC in Washington on Oct. 17.
This leaves Robinson with just $680,641 left in campaign funds.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democrat Rachel Hunt outraised and outspent Republican Hal Weatherman.
Hunt, a state senator representing Mecklenburg County, reported raising about $1.5 million and spending about $1.7 million, resulting in $842,099 left in her war chest.
Weatherman, a nonprofit founder and former political staffer, received $709,212 during the fundraising period. After spending $633,041, he has $190,025 remaining in cash on hand.
Funding for the attorney general’s contest is interesting because both major party candidates are incumbent members of Congress.
Since they’re running for a race in North Carolina, that means they’re filing their campaign finance reports at the state level instead of federal.
Democrat Jeff Jackson filed a termination report with the FEC last month. He donated the bulk of his money — $657,744 — to the North Carolina Democratic Leadership Committee before doing so.
It’s cycled back to him. Jackson reported receiving $3.4 million from the North Carolina Democratic Leadership Committee this period, making up nearly half of the $8.2 million that he brought in.
After spending $11.3 million, Jackson has about $2.6 million left on hand.
Republican Dan Bishop made a similar move. He kept his federal campaign bank account open, but he donated $1.2 million to the North Carolina Council of State Committee.
That same committee gave about $4.7 million to Bishop during the fundraising period, a substantial portion of the $5.9 million that Bishop reported receiving in the third quarter.
The Republican spent $7 million and has $1.5 million remaining in the bank.