Democrats are crying foul over North Carolina Republicans changing state campaign finance laws, alleging it is to help their gubernatorial candidate.
Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is looking to be North Carolina’s fourth Republican governor in a century, facing off against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. A significant obstacle in this endeavor is money; Stein has raised significantly more than Robinson, $18.6 million compared to Robinson’s $10.55 million.
On Tuesday, Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the state legislature, approved a campaign finance proposal that alters the reporting requirements attached to funding going to state parties. Democrats claim that the measure was a surprise and rushed through in order to allow Robinson to cultivate more donors who wouldn’t have to attach their names to his candidacy.
Robinson has alienated some donors with his controversial statements, which include saying the LGBT movement is turning the United States into a “hellhole” and calling homosexuality “filth.”
“If you don’t want the accountability that you get as a donor supporting somebody who is a very extreme candidate, like a Mark Robinson, this is a way to hide your money,” Morgan Jackson, a senior adviser to Stein and incumbent Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), told Politico.
Republicans defended the measure as simply leveling the playing field in response to previous changes pushed by Democrats.
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“The campaign finance reform simply aims to level the playing field that tilted in Democrats’ favor following a 2020 collusive agreement,” the North Carolina Republican Party told the outlet in a statement. “That decision locked out Republican groups while favoring Democratic groups who wished to get involved in North Carolina elections. This change restores parity in campaign finance laws and shows, once again, why partisan control over election administration in North Carolina must end.”
Recent polls have Stein and Robinson neck and neck, with an East Carolina University Center for Survey Research poll showing Stein at 44% and Robinson at 43%.
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