Robinson, Folwell take different funding tacks in GOP gubernatorial campaigns
As the battle heats up for the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nomination, different financing strategies are emerging.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s 2024 campaign for governor has tapped into a fund set aside for Republican members of the Council of State, using it to supplement an already massive fundraising operation.
Meanwhile, one of Robinson’s Republican opponents, State Treasurer Dale Folwell — who has described himself as “the best governor money can’t buy” — told WRAL News he won’t tap that fund because it was seeded in 2017 with a $1.4 million donation from indicted billionaire Greg Lindberg.
Folwell instead has loaned his gubernatorial campaign $1 million, signaling he’ll risk his own money in what will likely be an expensive Republican primary.
That’s one of the key takeaways from campaign finance reports covering the first half of this year, which were due Friday to the State Board of Elections.
And while the reports show Robinson with a large financial lead over his three Republican opponents, whoever wins that primary will likely go up against a formidable fundraising machine: Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein’s campaign has more cash on hand — $8.2 million — than all the Republican candidates put together, the reports show. Stein’s campaign raised nearly $6 million over the first six months of 2023, which his campaign said is a record for a gubernatorial candidate at this point in the race.
Even with Folwell’s infusion, Robinson’s warchest dwarfs his Republican competitors. The first-term lieutenant governor raised nearly $2.3 million over the past six months and showed $3.2 million on hand.
Folwell showed about $1.2 million on hand. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker's campaign raised $554,000. Former state Sen. Andy Wells, who currently sits on the state Board of Transportation, announced a run for governor last week, after the disclosure period ended, so his committee showed minimal activity.
Wells, who is from Hickory, ran for lieutenant governor in 2020, spending $500,000 of his own money on the race and placing a distant second in the Republican primary to Robinson.
Robinson’s fundraising was bolstered by a separate entity called the Republican Council of State Committee, which was created in 2017 to back North Carolina Republicans in statewide offices.
That committee brought in $295,400 over the last six months, but its biggest all-time donor by far is Lindberg, a financier facing multiple federal indictments, including one accusing him of trying to bribe North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
Lindberg donated $1.4 million to the fund in 2017, when Lt. Gov. Dan Forest chaired the committee. Robinson didn't enter elected politics until the 2020 lieutenant governor's race.
Ostensibly, any Republican member of the Council of State – the group of 10 North Carolina officials elected statewide — can tap the Republican Council of State Committee, which shows a $5,300 outlay to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt’s campaign in January.
But in practice under Forest, and now under Robinson, the committee has primarily supported the lieutenant governor, the council’s highest-ranking Republican. It’s paying $2,200 a month in rent to Robinson’s chief campaign consulting group, Conservative Connections, and it paid another $23,700 over the past six months to Robinson’s lead fundraiser, The Whillier Group.
The committee also spent $30,000 to cover entertainment costs for a Robinson campaign event.
Conrad Pogorzelski, who heads Conservative Connections and is Robinson’s chief political consultant, as well as his former chief of staff in the lieutenant governor’s office, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking more information about the expenditures.
Folwell is the only other Republican in the race who could tap the fund, but said he won’t do so because so much of its money tracks back to Lindberg. Lindberg was at one point the state’s largest political donor. He has since been accused of bribery and fraud in separate federal indictments. He hasn’t donated to the Republican Council of State Committee since 2017.
Stein, the only Democrat announced in the governor’s race, tapped a similar fund: The Democratic Leadership Committee. It was Stein’s largest single donor over the last six months, contributing $28,125 worth of fundraising consulting. The committee also shows payments to Nexus Strategies and Next Fund Consulting, both Democratic consulting groups working with Stein’s campaign.
Both the Republican Council of State and Democratic Leadership Committee have an advantage over Stein and Robinson’s individual campaign accounts: They can accept unlimited amounts of money from donors. Donations to individual committees are capped at $6,400 per person, per election, a maximum that increases every two years based on inflation.
Fundraising information covering Jan. 1 through June 30 for 2024 gubernatorial candidates can be found at the the State Board of Elections website.
Filing for the governor’s race, and in other state races, doesn’t open until December, and more candidates could still join the race. State Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan, a Democrat, has said he’s considering a run for governor, but he has not announced a decision.
Republicans
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
Raised: $2.29 million
Cash on hand: $3.21 million
Biggest contributors: The Republican Council of State Committee covered $30,000 in entertainment costs in March. The campaign also lists roughly 40 max-out donors, including the campaign of U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Biggest expenses: Payments of more than $240,000 to Conservative Connections, which was founded by Robinson’s lead consultant, Conrad Pogorzelski. Pogorzelski is Robinson’s former chief of staff in the lieutenant governor’s office. John Waugh, communications director for the lieutenant governor’s office, is Conservative Connections’ digital director. Other large expenses include $146,000 to The Willier Group, which oversees much of Robinson’s fundraising.
Notable: The campaign spent nearly $23,000 on campaign merchandise from The MAGA Mall, which sells hats, T-shirts and other items with former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” branding. Trump has promised repeatedly to endorse Robinson, and Robinson has endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker
Raised: $554,000
Cash on hand: $495,000
Biggest contributors: Walker is his own biggest contributor, but only because he gave his campaign $7.30 more than the $6,400 maximum that caps donations from others (and doesn’t apply to candidates). He lists more than 50 max-out donors.
Biggest expense: About $18,600 to Red Pines Consulting, a fundraising group based in Rolesville.
Notable: Much of Walker’s haul came from within his old congressional district. More than $250,000 came from Guilford County.
Treasurer Dale Folwell
Raised: $1.16 million
Cash on hand: $1.19 million
Biggest contributors: Folwell himself loaned the campaign $1 million at the end of the filing period. His filing shows 96 donations total, with $6,400 max-out donations from Greg Alcorn, the chief executive of Global Contact Services; Zachary and Katherine Clayton of Three Ships digital marketing; real estate entrepreneur J. Thomas Harris; Ronald and Elena Joyce of Joyce Farms; well known Republican donors Robert Luddy and Maria Coll Luddy and R. David Sprinkle of Greensboro.
Biggest expenses: $7,175 for billboards. The campaign also shows payouts to ABNO Group in Huntersville for fundraising consulting and to Sarah Reidy-Jones for campaign management.
Notable: Erskine Bowles, a former UNC System president and Democratic President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff in the 1990s, donated $2,000.
Former state Sen. Andy Wells
Wells announced his run for governor a little more than a week ago, after this fundraising period closed. His campaign committee shows little activity: $51,000 in a loan from Wells himself and $623 in expenses.
Democrat
Attorney General Josh Stein
Raised: $5.98 million
Cash on hand: $8.23 million
Biggest contributors: The NC Democratic Leadership Committee contributed $28,125 worth of fundraising consulting. After that, Stein lists about 190 max-out donors.
Biggest expenses: Much of Steins’ spending went to national Democratic consulting groups. The top 3: V2 Consulting, Battleaxe Strategies and Windward Consulting. The campaign also bought a $63,000 Chevy Tahoe to travel the state in from Hendrick Chevrolet in Cary.
Notable: Stein, state government’s top lawyer, logged more than $1 million in donations from other lawyers in this period. Bowles, in addition to donating to Folwell, donated to Stein as well, giving $3,900.
