Rep. Ted Budd doubles cash total in third-quarter fundraising

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, October 17, 2017

SALISBURY — From July through September, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd more than doubled his political war chest for the 2018 campaign.

Campaign finance reports submitted Friday show Budd, R-13, increased his campaign’s cash on hand from $82,724 to $225,076 in the third quarter — July through September. Most of Budd’s campaign cash came from political action committees, and he spent relatively little compared to the total sum of contributions.

Commenting on his third-quarter fundraising, Budd said he is humbled.

“We have exceeded our fundraising goal for the quarter, with nearly 70 percent of the donations coming from individuals, and will continue to work hard to make sure we have the resources necessary to communicate our conservative message directly with the voters next year,” Budd said.

Third-quarter reports show Budd’s campaign raised a total of $202,393. The largest number of contributions may have come from individuals, but they represented just 44 percent of the money Budd raised. Meanwhile, $113,750, or 56 percent of the total raised, came from political action committees.

Tom Smith of Salisbury was the lone local contributor to Budd’s campaign. Smith gave $1,000. N.C. GOP Chairman Robin Hayes was another notable contributor, giving a total of $3,000.

Budd also received a $2,000 contribution from the campaign of Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican who represents North Carolina’s 11th District.

Budd, who sits on the U.S. House Finance Committee, received many of his PAC contributions from banking and financial groups, including Experian PAC; JP Morgan Chase and Co. PAC; MasterCard International Employees PAC; Morgan Stanley PAC; Goldman Sachs Group PAC; Visa Inc. PAC; and Capital One Financial Corp. PAC.

During the third quarter, Budd’s campaign spent a total of $60,359. His most frequent expense was to Uber, a ride-hailing service. Over the course of 41 transactions, Budd spent about $430.

Budd’s campaign ended the third quarter with $225,075 in cash on hand, which places him near the bottom of the pack compared with the campaigns of other U.S. House members from North Carolina.

Contact Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.