WASHINGTON — During 2019, Democrats in both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly massively outraised Republicans. The House Democratic Caucus reported raising over $1 million and their Senate counterparts raised nearly $900,000.
Republicans’ off-year fundraising was positively anemic, with the official House Caucus campaign account reporting barely more than $500,000 raised in 2019. The Senate GOP, meanwhile, struggled to clear $200,000 in official fundraising. Democrats’ huge haul gives them a staggering cash on hand advantage to start out 2020.
“North Carolina Democrats have all the momentum as we kick off the 2020 election cycle,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “The GOP has used its gerrymandered majorities in Raleigh to push a toxically unpopular right-wing agenda, and they’ve revealed themselves to be woefully out of touch with North Carolinians. Flipping the General Assembly from red to blue will be crucial to fight for fair districts and progress on health care, education, and voting rights.”
Democrats need to flip just six seats in the North Carolina House and five in the Senate to flip the General Assembly blue for the first time in a decade. The state is one of the DLCC’s top targets in its 2020 Flip Everything campaign, and the committee has already made early investments of more than $100,000 to support Democrats in North Carolina.
During the 2018 elections, the DLCC helped break Republicans’ gerrymandered supermajority in both chambers of the legislature, allowing Democrats to sustain Governor Roy Cooper’s crucial veto over the GOP’s extremist agenda.
Winning control of at least one legislative chamber will be essential in stopping Republican gerrymandering in North Carolina where the governor has no veto power over new districts maps. Republicans have repeatedly won legislative and congressional majorities despite losing the popular vote.
“North Carolina is one of the top battlegrounds this year, at all levels of the ballot,” added Post. “Republicans have stood in the way of fair districts, expanding Medicaid, and building stronger schools for years. When we flip the General Assembly from red to blue this November, Democrats will finally be able to move North Carolina forward.”
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