Apr 23

Apr 23 Murphy, Thomas lead candidates in U.S. House campaign spending

By Bryan Hanks

Nearly $1.7 million has been raised by 17 of the 26 candidates vying to replace the late Walter B. Jones in a special U.S. House of Representatives election, according to filing reports with the Federal Election Commission. A significant portion of that money — 32.7 percent — is money “loaned” to the candidates by themselves.

There are 17 Republicans, six Democrats, two Libertarians and one Constitutional Party candidate in the race to succeed Jones, who passed away in February after serving North Carolina’s District 3 in the U.S. House since 1995.

Early voting for the special primary to replace Jones continues through Saturday; the primary is Tuesday, April 30.

Through the most recent mandatory Federal Election Commission reporting date of April 10, 14 of the 17 GOP candidates and four of the six Democratic candidates reported their spending. The two Libertarian candidates and the sole Constitutional Party candidate, along with three Republicans and two Democrats, do not have a report published on the FEC.gov website.

Dr. Greg Murphy, a Greenville urologist and Republican member of the N.C. House of Representatives from the 9th District, has raised the most money amongst the reporting candidates. Murphy has raised $317,994, including a $50,000 personal loan to his own campaign. He has $113,558.98 cash on hand, according to the FEC.

Murphy said his success raising funds is due to how people are viewing his candidacy.

“I’m a proven legislator and been a member of the community who has taken care of people in Eastern North Carolina for 25 years,” Murphy said. “I think people are hungry for someone to vote for, rather than to vote against. I’m happy and humbled to have so many people’s support.”

Another Pitt County politician, former Greenville mayor Allen Thomas, has raised $255,390.10, the second-most amongst all candidates and the most for the Democratic challengers. Thomas, who most recently served as the executive director of the Global TransPark in Kinston, currently has $138,900.47 cash on hand.

Thomas said while most of his Democratic competitors have had outside money support their efforts, he is pleased that more than 96 percent of the money he’s raised has come from within District 3 itself.

“We have been very fortunate to have so much energy and so many supporters in the 17 counties,” Thomas said. “They are tremendously excited about the campaign. … Although it’s a very quick cycle, we’ve had a lot of people to step up and support us.”

His total includes a $200,000 personal loan to his campaign.

“I felt that before I asked for anyone else to put one dollar in this campaign, I needed to make my own investment in it,” Thomas said. “We also felt it was very important to get our message out early; to be able to do that, you have to have funding.”

The third- and fourth-highest spending candidates are Republicans from Lenoir County. Dr. Joan Perry, a pediatrician from Kinston, has raised $154,345, including a $30,000 personal loan; she has $78,936.40 cash on hand.

This is Perry’s first personal foray into politics and she said the support she’s received from donors — including a commitment from the Susan B. Anthony List (Women Speak Out PAC) — has been humbling. The $75,000 pledge from the Susan B. Anthony List to support Perry is not included in her $154,345 total, as it is from a political action committee.

“It’s been a lot of work,” Perry said of raising funds for her campaign. “We’ve found there are people who want to invest in conservative values in this district. It’s been very encouraging.”

Eric Rouse, a local businessman and GOP member of the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners, has raised $147,640, including a $101,740 personal loan to his campaign. He currently has $60,845.64 cash on hand.

Rouse joined the campaign for the seat at almost the last minute, after practically the entire field was set. He said that has affected his fundraising to a degree.

“I wasn’t going to run, so coming in on the backside after everyone else had raised funds, I feel pretty good about what we have raised,” he said. “I have some more pledges coming in so I think that says some pretty positive things about our campaign and what we’re doing.”

The other Lenoir County candidate in the field, Republican Michele Nix — a former vice president of the N.C. Republican Party — has raised $48,203.50 but, unlike some of her opponents, has not personally loaned her campaign any funds. She has $11,720.09 cash on hand.

Nix said her campaign fund-raising is more reflective of the voters in District 3; she said contributions have come from all over the district, not just one or two isolated areas within Eastern North Carolina.

“That’s the differentiation between me and some of the other candidates — the ones who are self-funding or have well-to-do family members,” she said. “My contributions are coming from people in the district who are just like me — people who’ve worked hard for everything they have. The contributions we’ve been getting are heartfelt and they’re doing it because they believe in us.”

Phil Law is familiar with District 3; the Republican from Jacksonville ran and lost against Jones in the 2016 and 2018 primaries. The closest he came to defeating Jones was in 2018, when he finished second in a three-way race, losing 43-29.4 percent, with Scott Dacey finishing third at 27.5 percent.

For the GOP primary, Law has only raised $26,480 — good for 11th amongst Republicans; he has only $832.99 on hand, according to the latest report.

However, he said he is unconcerned about the amount of money he’s raised.

“Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars didn’t help out the last two challengers in the 2016 and 2018 primaries,” he said. “I have a record of defeating challengers with larger war chests.”