Cost of Winning Seat in General Assembly Tops $100,000 for First Time

April 7, 2003
Contact: Bob Hall 919-489-1931

Big Spenders, Incumbents Hold 9 of 10 Seats

Members of the North Carolina General Assembly, who are now struggling to balance the state's budget, spent an average of $101,000 each to win election last November, according to a study by the non-partisan campaign-finance watchdog group Democracy North Carolina.

Overall, the 170 legislators shelled out $17.2 million to gain their seats - an all-time record, even though 40 percent had no major-party opponent in November. Losers in the 2002 general election spent $5.2 million, another record.

The combined $22.4 million is more than three times the amount spent by legislative winners and losers a decade ago, in the 1992 election, even after adjusting for inflation.

A decade ago, one legislative candidate spent over $150,000. In 2002, 35 topped that figure.

"The high price of running for office, without a public financing option for worthy candidates, poses a serious threat to the notion of a 'citizen's legislature,' " said Bob Hall, research director of Democracy North Carolina. "More and more you hear even successful candidates say that the burden of private fundraising is overwhelming. The money chase has too much influence over who can run, who can win, and who gets access to determine important public policy."

A handful of contested - and very expensive - seats in the state Senate played a major role in pushing up the 2002 totals, he said. By contrast, almost half the House seats went uncontested by a major party, so the amount needed to win actually declined from the record high set in 2000.

"In 2000, Democrats and Republicans focused resources on winning control of the state House, which seemed up for grabs. Spending on House races jumped 70 percent over 1998, because it was thought that whoever won the majority could shape the partisan make-up of Congressional and legislative districts for the next decade," said Hall. "Of course, as it turned out, the judicial branch drew the maps for the new legislative districts.

"In 2002, with the new court-drawn districts, the Senate looked up for grabs, so huge amounts were invested there. Democrats desperate to hold onto their majority increased spending by $2 million over 2000 and Republicans doubled their investment," he said. "Meanwhile, many districts in the House became more predictably winnable by either a Democrat or Republican, so the price tag on those seats went down."

As a result, he said, state Senators spent an average of $198,150 to win in November 2002, more than three times the $61,060 spent by the average House member. Democrats won a 28-22 majority in the Senate; Republicans led 61 to 59 in the House (until Michael Decker's defection.)

Democracy North Carolina's analysis reveals other shifts from previous elections:

Incumbent Advantage: Legislators seeking re-election in 2002 outspent non-incumbents by a ratio of 2-to-1, a decline from their nearly 3-to-1 advantage in 2000. The success rate of incumbents dipped below 90 percent for the first time since the shake-up of 1994. One reason the rate dropped: In six contests, legislators faced each other in new districts, including three House Republicans who unsuccessfully challenged three Senate Democrats.

Uncontested seats: Sixty-eight legislators (40 percent of the 170) were elected without a major-party opponent in the 2002 general election; they include 57 Representatives (or nearly half the 120 House members) and 11 Senators (one fifth of the 50 members). On average, these 68 legislators still spent $35,600 during the election cycle, even though 43 also had no primary.

Top spenders: The candidate who spent the most won 82 percent of the contested races between a Democrat and Republican, matching the big-spender's average success rate for the decade. When the uncontested races are added, 152 of the 170 legislators either outspent their opponent or faced no opponent from a major party, the highest number in the past six elections. Similarly, 150 of the 170 winners (88%) either outspent their opponents or were incumbents.

Leadership Transfers: In a now familiar pattern, House Speaker Jim Black and Senate President Pro Tem funneled two thirds of the combined $3 million they raised to aid other candidates, either directly as contributions or indirectly through bank accounts maintained within the political parties. House Republicans Ed McMahan, Connie Wilson, and Leo Daughtry gave a combined total $211,700 to other General Assembly candidates and state GOP committees.

Party Punch: Democratic candidates poured twice as much money into legislative elections as the Republicans, $15.3 million compared to $7.0 million. (Some of this money is double counted, as in past years, because of the way in-kind expenses and transfers between candidates are recorded. On the other hand, some campaign expenses paid by the Republican party to aid candidates are omitted, since the party says they're "independent," not coordinated, expenditures.)

In the House, Democrats outspent Republicans by a ratio of 1.7 to 1, while in the Senate the ratio climbed to 2.7 to 1. "The giant money advantage of Senate Democrats proved effective in enough targeted races to give them a solid 28-22 majority, even though Republican Senate candidates received more total votes statewide," said Hall.

In seven key Senate races where the two candidates spent over $400,000 together, Democrats outspent their GOP opponent in six cases and won five seats.

"There was some speculation that the compressed campaign season and the large number of legislators retiring would reduce the overall costs of campaigns in 2002," said Hall. "But that turned out to only part of the story. The September primary, single-member districts, and long legislative session did nothing to dampen each party's desire to gain or keep the upper hand."
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     Democracy North Carolina's analysis is based on reports filed with the State Board of Elections, including adjustments made to correct addition or other errors. Many reports are still unaudited, so further changes may be necessary. As in past years, some candidates' expenditure reports may include double-counted dollars - money listed as spent when it was sent to a state party and then listed again as an in-kind expenditure when the party used it to help the candidate. Loan repayments are not included.
     This study treats Rep. Michael Decker as a Republican and Rep. Larry Justus as winning District 117.

To view the charts that go with this release, click here.