NC Republican pulls in $900K in first 10 days of campaign

North Carolina Congressman Dan Bishop's campaign for state attorney general is off to a strong start, raising more than $900,000 in the 10 days since he announced his decision to run, according to a campaign finance report obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: That's an impressive fundraising haul this early in the campaign, and a sign that Bishop is well-positioned to win the Republican nomination in the race.

• Meanwhile, a likely opponent on the Democratic side has yet to emerge as a front-runner.

Context: A former state lawmaker and current member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Bishop is no stranger to the spotlight. He was the architect of North Carolina's notorious HB2 — the since-repealed state law that restricted transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

• Later, in 2019, his narrow win in the race for the state's 9th Congressional District also drew national attention.

Flashback: Though Bishop spent months contemplating whether to give up his Washington gig to run for statewide office, he's had an army of support waiting in the wings.

• Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, will back Bishop, Robinson's political strategist Conrad Pogorzelski told Axios in May.
• Club for Growth political action committee, which backed U.S. Sen. Ted Budd and numerous other Republican candidates who won in 2022, and the Republican Attorneys General Association — two heavyweights in Republican politics — have also endorsed Bishop.

That kind of support poised Bishop to pull in more financial support in the early days of his campaign than either of the front-runners in the race for North Carolina governor.

• In the 10 days after current attorney general Josh Stein, a Democrat, announced his plan to run for governor in January, he raised less than $500,000, campaign finance records show.
• Robinson, who announced in April, raised close to $180,000 in that same timeframe.
• Former state lawmaker and prosecutor Republican Tom Murry, who announced his run for attorney general in February, had raised some $142,000 this year as of June 30, according to state records.