In North Carolina politics, state-level candidates and PACs spent $22.5 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. More than $2.7 million or 12.0 percent of all campaign finance expenditures went to the 10 payees at the top of the list. 

A payee is an entity or individual who has received money from a campaign account. Candidates and PACs must report campaign expenditures, including payments to vendors, donations to other campaign accounts, and bank transfers, to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Top 10 North Carolina payees (1/1/2021 – 12/31/2021)

Here are the top 10 recipients of North Carolina campaign money in the 2022 election cycle, as of the most recent reports. 

Total Expenditures in nine states during the 2022 election cycle

Campaign finance expenditures vary widely among state-level candidates and PACs. A number of factors, including state-specific campaign finance regulations, influence how expenditure activity varies across states. Here is how total campaign finance expenditures in North Carolina compared to eight other states with data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:

Comparison of total expenditures, by state

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

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.