Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley will report raising more than $7.42 million during the entire second quarter, her campaign said, a robust figure to close out her primary victory and build up her coffers for a general election campaign against Republican Ted Budd.

Beasley’s campaign said Tuesday that her next campaign filing, due at the Federal Election Commission by Friday, will mean the largest ever raised in a second fundraising quarter by a U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina — exceeding $7.40 million that Democrat Cal Cunningham reported in 2020. Beasley’s campaign accounts had $4.8 million entering July, her campaign said.

Beasley, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court, cruised to an easy May 17 primary victory, winning 81% of the vote in a 11-candidate race. Her campaign already has been running campaign ads for the general election.

Budd’s campaign, which has the same Friday deadline, didn’t immediately release its numbers for the three months ending June 30. It used Beasley’s news in a email fundraising appeal late Tuesday, telling supporters “we cannot let her overwhelm us in fundraising.”

A current member of Congress, Budd handily won the 14-candidate GOP primary, finishing comfortably ahead of former Gov. Pat McCrory and ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Walker. Budd benefited greatly from former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and from the independent expenditure group Club for Growth Action, which spent millions supporting him and criticizing McCrory.

The Budd and Beasley campaigns have already filed campaign finance reports for the first four weeks of April.

Beasley has been the highest campaign fundraiser among all candidates seeking to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr since she got into the race in April 2021.

 

Photo via AP Photo/Ben McKeown.

 

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