Putting Jeff Jackson’s first-quarter fundraising into perspective
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Clipped from Jackson's launch video in January. Source: Jeff Jackson for Senate
Charlotte’s Jeff Jackson raised six times more than any other North Carolina candidate running for Senate in the first quarter, according to an analysis financial disclosure reports posted April 15.
Among 2022 Senate candidates who aren’t incumbents, only Pennsylvania lieutenant governor John Fetterman raised more in individual contributions from January 1 through March 31.
Why it matters: We knew Jackson was wildly popular in Charlotte, but one of the big questions surrounding his campaign was whether someone who’d never run a statewide race could bring in enough money to compete. He seems to have answered that.
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Context: His first-quarter receipts rank 17th among all candidates running for Senate in 2022, including sitting senators with years of name recognition like Tim Scott and Chuck Schumer.
- Only three non-sitting senators — Pennsylvania’s Fetterman, Alabama’s Lynda Blanchard and Ohio’s Jane Timken — had more in receipts than Jackson in the first three months of 2021.
- But Blanchard and Timken only surpassed Jackson because of personal loans.
- For perspective, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has nationwide name recognition and is up for re-election in 2022, raised $1.6 million in the first quarter.
The big picture: The 2020 Senate race between Thom Tillis and Cal Cunningham was one of the most expensive in history, with the candidates spending $67 million.
Jackson has been criss-crossing the state already, and says he’s received contributions from at least one person in all 100 counties. He’s received 14,000 contributions so far, and he announced just in January.
What to watch: The next quarterly filing deadline is July 15. We’ll be watching to see if Jackson’s run continues. And to see how former mayor and governor Pat McCrory fares. He figures to pull in a big fundraising haul this quarter after his announcement last week.