How much Stein, Berger, Hall and other NC politicians have been raising in 2025
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein doesn't face reelection for another three years, but that doesn't mean he's stopped or slowed down when it comes to raising money.
In fact, in the first six months of this year, Stein's campaign committee reported raising just under $2.5 million.
By comparison, during the same period, Republican Senate leader Phil Berger reported raising over $1.7 million, and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall reported raising just under $750,000. Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch reported raising just over $141,000, and House Democratic Leader Robert Reives reported total receipts just shy of $25,000.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Lee, who was elected by his caucus to that leadership position earlier this year, raised just under $234,000, while House Majority Leader Brenden Jones raised nearly $75,000. Senate Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon raised $39,000. House Rules Committee Chairman John Bell raised more than $92,000.
On the Council of State, other top fundraisers were Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who reported raising around $587,000 in the first six months of the year; Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, who raised nearly $133,000, and Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, whose campaign brought in just under $34,000.
These campaign finance reports covering the first half of the year, from Jan. 1 to June 30, reveal how even in an off-year and just months after the conclusion of the last election, political fundraising has continued apace.
It's only going to accelerate as we get closer to next year's election, which will feature a U.S. Senate contest that is already generating expectations to become the most expensive of all time, and the fight for legislative power in the N.C. General Assembly, where Democrats will be hoping to end the Republican 'working supermajority' that has so far enacted eight bills over Stein's vetoes.
Stein's fundraising and spending
Taking a closer look at Stein's latest fundraising report, it shows the campaign had just over $1 million in operating expenses during the first half of this year.
That included money spent on digital advertising, fundraising consulting, direct mail campaigns, texting campaigns, and payroll for staff. Combined with other expenses like contributions to other candidates and political committees, in-kind contributions, and refunds and reimbursements from the campaign, Stein reported total expenditures of $1.6 million.
The $2.5 million the campaign reported bringing in is made up of a mix of thousands of small-dollar donations and a hefty share from more than 170 individuals who gave the maximum allowed amount of $6,800. Those max contributions on their own add up to more than $1.1 million.
His campaign had $1.9 million in the bank coming out of last year's election, and at the end of June, the campaign said it had slightly more than $2.7 million on hand.
In off-years, candidates and political fundraising committees are required to file reports twice a year.
The first 'semi-annual' reports covering the first half of the year were due at the State Board of Elections by July 25. The second such report, covering the final six months of the year, will be due on Jan. 30, 2026.
Catch up on more North Carolina politics news by listening to our Under the Dome podcast, which posts every Tuesday morning. On this week's episode, higher education reporter Korie Dean talks with our politics team colleague Sophia Bailly about the Trump administration's impact on international enrollment on college campuses, and whether North Carolina's campuses could see fewer international students come this fall. Read more from Korie and Sophia's new reporting on this here.
Thanks for reading. Contact our team at dome@newsobserver.com. Not a newsletter subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
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Bloomberg
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Trump, Putin Call Talks ‘Productive,' a ‘Starting Point'
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak at a joint event Friday following their summit in Anchorage, Alaska. (With English translation of Putin's remarks in Russian.) (Source: Bloomberg)
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Here's the transcript of what Putin and Trump said in Alaska
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin left Alaska Friday without a ceasefire agreement, although both men described the meeting constructive. In what was billed by the White House as a press conference following their meeting, Mr. Trump and Putin took no questions, ignoring shouted ones from reporters. Putin spoke little of Ukraine, focusing on the bond and heritage between the U.S. and Russia, while Mr. Trump said many points were agreed to, and a few are left, regarding Ukraine. The U.S. president plans to call European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said. Here is a transcript of what Mr. Trump and Putin said: PUTIN: Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, our negotiations have been held in a constructive atmosphere of mutual respect. PUTIN: We have very thorough negotiations that were quite useful. I would like to thank once again my American counterpart, for the proposal to travel out here to Alaska. It only makes sense that we've met here, because our countries, though separated by the oceans, are close neighbors. So when we've met, when I came out of the plane and I said, 'Good afternoon, dear neighbor. Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive.' I think that is very neighborly. I think that's some kind words that we can say to each other. We're separated by the strait of Bering, though, there are two islands only between the Russian Island and the U.S. Island. They're only four kilometers apart. We are close neighbors, and it's a fact. PUTIN: It's also important that Alaska has to do with our common heritage, common history between Russia and the U.S., and many positive events have to do with that territory. Still, there is tremendous cultural heritage, back from the Russian America, for example, Orthodox churches, and a lot of- more than 700 geographical names of Russian origin. During the Second World War, it was here in Alaska that was the origin of the legendary air bridge for the supply of military aircraft and other equipment under the Lend-Lease Program. PUTIN: It was a dangerous and treacherous route over the vast emptiness of ice. However, the pilots of both countries did everything to bring closer the victory. They risked their lives and they gave it all for the common victory. I was just in the city of Magadan in Russia. And there is a memorial there dedicated to the Russian, the U.S. pilots. And there are two flags, the U.S. flag and the Russian flag. And I know that here as well, there is such a memorial. There is a military burial place several kilometers away from here. The Soviet pilots are buried there who died during that dangerous mission. We're thankful to the citizens and the government of the U.S. for carefully taking care of their memory. I think that's very worthy and noble. We'll always remember other historical examples when our countries defeated common enemies together in the spirit of battle camaraderie and allyship that supported each other and facilitated each other. I am sure that this heritage will help us rebuild and foster mutually beneficial and equal ties at this new stage, even during the hardest conditions. PUTIN: It is known that there have been no summits between Russia and the U.S. for four years, and that's a long time. This time was very hard for bilateral relations, and let's be frank, they've fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War. I think that's not benefiting our countries and the world as a whole. It is apparent that sooner or later, we have to amend the situation to move on from the confrontation to dialog, and in this case, a personal meeting between the heads of state has been long overdue, naturally, under the condition of serious and painstaking work, and this work has been done. PUTIN: In general, me and President Trump have very good direct contact. We've spoken multiple times. We spoke frankly on the phone. And the special envoy of the president, Mr. Witkoff, traveled out to Russia several times. Our advisers and heads of foreign ministries kept in touch all the time, and we know fully well that one of the central issues was the situation around Ukraine. PUTIN: We see the strive of the administration and President Trump personally to help facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, and his strive to get to the crux of the matter, to understand this history, is precious. As I've said, the situation in Ukraine has to do with fundamental threats to our security. Moreover, we've always considered the Ukrainian nation, and I've said it multiple times, a brotherly nation. How strange it may sound in these conditions. We have the same roots, and everything that's happening is a tragedy for us, and terrible wound. Therefore, the country is sincerely interested in putting an end to it. PUTIN: At the same time, we're convinced that in order to, to make the settlement lasting and long term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict, and we've said it multiple times, to consider all legitimate concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe and in the world on the whole, and agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally, we are prepared to work on that. PUTIN: I would like to hope that the agreement that we've reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine. We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won't throw a wrench in the works. They will not make any attempts to use some backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress. PUTIN: Incidentally, when the new administration came to power, bilateral trade started to grow. It's still very symbolic. Still, we have a growth of 20%. As I've said, we have a lot of dimensions for joint work. It is clear that the U.S. and Russian investment and business cooperation has tremendous potential. Russia and the U.S. can offer each other so much in trade, digital, high tech and in space exploration. We see that arctic cooperation is also very possible, in our international context. For example, between the far east of Russia and the West Coast of the U.S. PUTIN: Overall, it's very important for our countries to turn the page to go back to cooperation. It is symbolic that, not far away from here, the border between Russia and the US, there was a so-called International Date Line. I think you can step over, literally, from yesterday into tomorrow, and I hope that's- will succeed in that, in the political sphere. 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