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Gubernatorial candidates still have a few days before they have to report how much they've raised this year. Republican Pat McCrory announced this week that his campaign has $3 million dollars in the bank. But his Democratic opponent in the general election will likely get a boost from an event in Charlotte this week.
McCrory certainly has a fundraising advantage. He's had plenty of time to raise money and hasn't had much reason to spend it on the primary election. On the other hand, the Democratic candidates are competing against each other for money in the primary.
But Governor Bev Perdue may be some help to the Democratic winner. She's the host of the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Charlotte this week. The group says it expects to raise $2 million that will go toward gubernatorial candidates in the fall.
"That's certainly going to help the eventual democratic nominee for the governor's race," says Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College. "But once the Democrats solidify on their candidate, he's got to start the ground running, basically starting from scratch kind of like what McCrory went through in 2008."
McCrory raised a total of $6.5 million in that race. Perdue raised nearly $17.6 million.