NC-11: U.S. House race gets expensive
Republican congressional candidate Madison Cawthorns campaign has raised more than twice as much money as that of Democratic opponent Morris Moe Davis, but Davis entered the homestretch of the race for Western North Carolinas 11th District U.S. House seat with the most money in the bank.
A short speech before the Republican National Convention, the attention generated by a June 23 runoff primary, an extensive and expensive fundraising effort and $361,000 Cawthorn loaned his campaign all contributed to the $3.2 million Cawthorn had raised as of Sept. 30.
Through the same date, according to reports the campaigns filed with the Federal Election Commission, Davis had raised $1.5 million but had $825,830 left to spend versus the $516,612 Cawthorn had on hand.
Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, says the numbers suggest the race in the Republican-leaning 11th is closer than originally expected, or at least is perceived that way.
People dont give money to surefire losers and they dont give much to surefire winners, particularly ones who wouldnt have much power in the chamber, he says.
Fundraising by the major party nominees in the 11th hasnt reached this years heights since 2006, when Democrat Heath Shuler and Republican Charles Taylor pulled in a total of $6.2 million. After state legislators redrew the district in 2011 to put much of Democratic stronghold Buncombe County in the 10th District, Republican Mark Meadows regularly won the 11th by wide margins and had little need to raise large sums while Democratic challengers typically struggled to attract donations.
https://mountainx.com/news/u-s-house-race-gets-expensive/