August 03, 2022, 5:13 AMSenate candidate Cheri Beasley, center, laughs after posing for a photograph with voters near a polling place at Fearrington Village's The Gathering Place in Pittsboro, N.C., May 17, 2022.
North Carolina has been a white whale for Democrats on the federal level in recent cycles: The party hasn't won a presidential or Senate race there since 2008, though they have had better success with state and local offices. More recently, however, Democrats in North Carolina say they're getting short-changed by the national party, though top operatives in Washington insist they support Beasley and that the money will be there for her as November nears.
Senate candidate Cheri Beasley speaks during the North Carolina Democratic Party's election night party in Raleigh, N.C., May 17, 2022.National Democrats could still swoop in later to boost Beasley. But the funding so far pales in comparison to what's being funneled to Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the $6.5 million and $27.
"I think it's been surprising the lack of out-of-state money that has not yet come in North Carolina," said Michael Bitzer, a politics professor at Catawba College. "From a North Carolina point of view, I think that there feels like a missed opportunity to get invested. But if you look at the broader range of races that Democrats have to deal with … they're limited in terms of where they've got money to direct to those other races as well.
Cal Cunningham addresses a gathering of the Democratic Women of Wake County during a forum with other candidates in Raleigh, N.C., March 24, 2010."Sometimes our actions don't match up with our words. And when we have really counted, especially, on African-American women to make a difference in a number of elections, too often we weren't nominating those same women to be the standard bearer for our party," North Carolina Democratic fundraiser Bruce Thompson told ABC News.
"North Carolina is a Senate battleground, and the contrast between Cheri Beasley’s strong campaign and focus on finding solutions for North Carolinians with Budd’s record of changing the rules to help himself and his special interest donors is making the race highly competitive," said DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman.