By Staff
Nearly half of receipts from thecandidate’s own pocket
By DAN PARSONS
Staff Writer
The campaign to deliver the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor to Washington native Greg Dority raised a total $9,183.14 since January, according to a campaign finance disclosure report filed Monday with the State Board of Elections.
Almost half of that total came from the candidate’s own pocket, according to the report. Monday was the deadline for filing the report in Raleigh prior to the May 6 primary that will decide if Dority will receive the GOP nod.
On March 5, March 20 and again on April 12, Dority cut his own campaign committee a check — each for $1,500. That leaves $4,683 in campaign funds from individual sources other than Dority.
Dority’s most-formidable challenger for the GOP nomination is Robert Pittenger, a wealthy Republican state senator from Charlotte. Pittenger has over $1 million in his war chest, most of which was lent by the candidate and his wife, according to records available on the State Board of Elections’ Web site. Dority said Monday his comparatively meager campaign — which he describes as an “aggressive campaign on the ground” — has popular support enough to be a threat to Pittenger next week.
Dority’s campaign received 29 individual contributions including those from Dority, according to the report. The report also lists a total $2,645 in in-kind contributions including $700 worth of “Web services” performed by Beaufort County Commissioner Stan Deatherage.
Dority told the Daily News on April 18 that his campaign had raised about $10,000. Prior to that disclosure, Dority’s war chest had an official balance of $287.75 — the leftovers of a $300 deposit he made to open a bank account for his campaign committee. Dority also expressed confidence that his platform — one based firmly on advocating for North Carolina’s middle class — would prevail on May 6 against Pittenger.
If Dority does clinch the GOP nomination, he won’t have the whole $9,000 entering the general campaign. He reported total expenditures of $7,150.93, leaving a cash-on-hand balance of $2,319.96 as of Monday. The single largest expense listed is $2,048 for “stickers and signs,” followed by an expenditure of $927.90 for “signs and wires,” according to the report. Both payments were made to an advertising supply company based in Omaha, Neb., according to the report.
Dority told the Daily News that fundraising would not be a worry for his campaign if he were to win the primary next week.
Dority said his campaign would easily raise funds following a victory in next month’s primary.