Democrats are outraising Republicans in competitive NC legislative districts

The North Carolina Legislative Building (Photo: Clayton Henkel)

Last year’s redistricting left only a handful of competitive legislative districts in North Carolina as Republicans in the General Assembly moved to solidify their veto-proof majorities.

Two of the competitive Senate districts are in Wake County, where Democratic candidates are so far winning the money race.

Democrat Terence Everitt decided to relinquish his House seat and run in Senate District 18, which tilts Republican.

Republicans gave Everitt’s House district a radical remake after he asked prosecutors to investigate House Speaker Tim Moore for possible corruption. Moore had been sued for alienation of affection by Scott Lassiter, the estranged husband of a state employee with whom Moore had an affair.

The Wake County district attorney said there was no basis for a case.

Moore had Everitt’s legislative office moved to a former closet in the Legislative Building’s basement. Everitt’s House district was redrawn to sweep through some of Wake’s more Republican areas along the county’s northern edge. Everitt decided to run instead for Senate in a district that’s being left vacant. He told WRAL he was planning to retire from the legislature, but Gov. Roy Cooper asked him to run .

Everitt, who has a law office in Wake Forest, had raised about $272,000 and had about $182,000 on hand at the end of the June 30 reporting period, according to the latest campaign finance reports. The Republican candidate, Ashlee Adams, whose website says she oversees operations at an events space in Wake Forest, had raised about $68,000 for the election and had about $11,000 on hand.

Lassiter dropped his suit against Moore but he’s still making news because he’s the Republican candidate in the other competitive Senate district in Wake. Lassiter, an assistant middle school principal, is running against Democratic Sen. Lisa Grafstein in Senate District 13.

In redistricting, Republicans changed election boundaries to place Grafstein’s home in a district with Democratic Sen. Jay Chaudhuri. Grafstein, a lawyer with Disability Rights NC, won her first term in 2022 from an overwhelmingly Democratic district. Grafstein moved to the newly drawn District 13, which leans Democratic. Democrats running for seats on the state Supreme Court in 2022 won the district by two percentage points while they lost statewide.

Grafstein had raised about $333,000 for the election and had about $222,000 on hand. Lassiter, whose $160,000 raised for the election includes $50,000 he loaned the campaign, had $48,600 on hand. Lassiter won a primary to reach the general election.

State Rep. Tricia Cotham made national news last year when she switched her party affiliation to Republican months after winning election in a strong Democratic district. Her party switch gave House Republicans a veto-proof majority.

Republicans drew Cotham a new district in Mecklenburg County that leans Republican, but she has not raised as much for the race as Democratic challenger Nicole Sidman . Sidman, director of congregational life at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, had raised about $318,000 for the election and had $231,000 on hand at the end of June. Sidman won a three-way primary last spring for the spot on the November ballot. Cotham had raised about $151,000 for the election and had about $160,000 on hand. Cotham did not have a primary.

The next campaign finance reporting deadline is Oct. 29. Those reports will offer the last comprehensive look at candidate fundraising before the election.