North Carolina Gov. Cooper receives $2.6 million, with the NCDLC as top donor


In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper is the number three fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. According to the most recent campaign finance reports made to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), the governor received $2,631,856 in total contributions and spent $874,238 between Jan. 1, 2021 and July 29, 2022. Cooper’s current term ends in 2025.

Gov. Cooper is a member of the Democratic Party and first assumed office in 2017.

Contributions to Gov. Cooper

Of the $2.6 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 12.5 percent came from the top 10 donors.

Top Donors to Gov. Cooper (1/1/2021 – 7/29/22)

RankTotal AmountDonor NameDonor Type
1.$180,885.20NC Democratic Leadership Committee “Ncdlc”ENTITY
2.$82,964.66Gmmb IncENTITY
3.$11,475.00Catherine MorrisINDIVIDUAL
4.$11,200.00C Sherwin SuddrethINDIVIDUAL
5.$10,500.00William R HazzardINDIVIDUAL
6.$8,400.00Ilene C SieglerINDIVIDUAL
7.$6,600.00Ima Cary NaillingINDIVIDUAL
8.$6,100.00C Ralph HodgeINDIVIDUAL
9.$6,100.00Mack B Pearsall JrINDIVIDUAL
10.$5,700.00Jeanette W HydeINDIVIDUAL

Expenditures by Gov. Cooper

On the expenditures side, Gov. Cooper reported $874,238, with 79.6 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. 

Top Expenditures by Gov. Cooper (1/1/2021 – 7/29/2022)

RankTotal AmountPayee NamePayee Type
1.$266,621.96Nexus Strategies IncENTITY
2.$202,232.21RWT Production LLCENTITY
3.$68,989.42Battleaxe Digital LLCENTITY
4.$33,415.35Vantiv LLCENTITY
5.$32,364.15Mariah MorganENTITY
6.$26,575.00Windward Strategies IncENTITY
7.$20,908.32North Carolina Department of TransportationENTITY
8.$17,528.96Act BlueENTITY
9.$14,998.28United States Postal ServiceENTITY
10.$12,541.66ADP as Depository for Payroll TaxesENTITY

How Gov. Cooper’s fundraising compares to other governors

Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. Here is how fundraising by North Carolina Gov. Cooper compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022:

Fundraising reported by 11 U.S. governors in the 2022 election cycle

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active North Carolina PACs submitted to the NCSBE. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Name of ReportReporting PeriodDeadline
Q1 Plus1/1/22 – 4/30/225/10/2022
Q2 Plus5/1/22 – 6/30/226/12/2022
Semiannual1/1/22- 6/30/227/29/2022
Q3 Plus7/1/22 – 10/22/2211/1/2022
Q410/23/2022 – 12/31/221/11/2023
Jan Semiannual1/1/22 – 12/31/221/27/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.