Former chief justice Beasley raises $1.3M for U.S. Senate bid

RALEIGH (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley of North Carolina raised nearly $1.3 million in little more than two months since she entered the race in April, her campaign announced on July 7.

The former state Supreme Court chief justice and first black woman to hold that title in North Carolina is gearing up to for an expensive bid to fill the seat Republican Sen. Richard Burr is vacating in 2022.

Her top Democratic primary opponent, state Sen. Jeff Jackson, brought in more than $700,000 from April 1 to June 30, according to an announcement from his campaign. The 11,000 individual donors stretched across all 100 counties and provided a median contribution of about $15.

Jackson received a similar amount of money as Beasley within the first two months of his campaign, when he brought in almost $1.3 million between the time he announced his candidacy in late January and the end of March. He substantially outraised his Democratic opponents at the time, as well as former GOP U.S. Rep. Mark Walker.

Former State Sen. Erica Smith, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Senate nomination in 2020, has not yet announced her latest fundraising total.

All candidates have until July 15 to report their April to June fundraising numbers to the Federal Election Commission.