Roy Cooper has raised the most in this race — $49,585,341, ahead of Michael Whatley at $13,668,468. Michael Whatley has taken the most PAC and party-committee money: $1,032,255. On AIPAC: Roy Cooper has an AIPAC-linked record (amount still under verification); Michael Whatley has an AIPAC-linked record (amount still under verification).
The current officeholder is retiring, so the seat will have a new winner. Forecasters give the Democrats the edge. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, shows a record of donations linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, but the exact amount is still being confirmed. Michael Whatley, a Republican, shows a record of donations linked to AIPAC, but the exact amount is still being confirmed.
Major issues facing North Carolina, based on 2025–2026 reporting. Compare them with what each candidate says they focus on below.
FEC campaign finance data through Oct 14, 2026. Campaign dollars, by source.
| Roy Cooper D | Michael Whatley R | |
|---|---|---|
| Raised | $49.6M | $13.7M |
| Individuals | $18M36% | $7.3M53% |
| PACs & parties | $1M2% | $1M8% |
| Self-funded | $0 | $0 |
| Other | $30.6M62% | $5.4M39% |
| AIPAC-linked* | — | — |
| Outside spending† | — | — |
* AIPAC-linked money is already counted in the rows above — it flags the pro-Israel share, not extra money.
† Independent spending on ads for or against a candidate. It never goes to their campaign.
“Individuals” covers both small-dollar (under $200) and large donors.
Every donor ranked by how much they gave, from the candidate’s own FEC filings — individuals, PACs, and party committees all in one list. Expand a candidate to see theirs, then tap any name to learn more about the donor.
Why are so many gifts exactly $10,000? That’s the legal maximum a PAC can give one candidate for the whole cycle — $5,000 for the primary plus $5,000 for the general — so many PACs give the max. Individuals can give up to $3,500 per election.
Showing the 50 biggest of 11585 donors. The other 11535 gave $8.7M combined.
Plus $4.7M from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.
Showing the 50 biggest of 4963 donors. The other 4913 gave $4.1M combined.
Plus $1.8M from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.
These figures come from the candidate’s own itemized FEC reports (2026 cycle, through the coverage date above), with amendments applied and refunds netted. Joint fundraising transfers are left out of the ranking: they’re pass-throughs, and the individual donations behind them are listed above. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and other non-donation receipts are excluded. Donor names are as reported — the same person can appear twice if their name was recorded differently. Independent spending on ads is never included here — see the Outside spending column.
Roy Cooper has raised more: $49,585,341, ahead of Michael Whatley at $13,668,468.
Michael Whatley has taken the most money from PACs and party committees: $1,032,255. Roy Cooper has taken $1,003,620.
Roy Cooper has an AIPAC-linked record in FEC filings; the dollar amount is still under verification. Michael Whatley has an AIPAC-linked record in FEC filings; the dollar amount is still under verification.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
October 28, 2026
Senate Leadership Fund adds $24 million in North Carolina, bringing its NC-Sen total to $105 million
Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate Republican leadership's super PAC, announced an additional $24 million for the closing week of the North Carolina Senate race between Sen. Thom Tillis (R) and former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) — $19 million for television from October 27 through Election Day plus $5 million for radio, digital, streaming and direct mail. The addition brings SLF's total North Carolina spending to $105 million, which the group calls the largest Senate-race investment in its history.
Source: Senate Leadership Fund →October 23, 2026
Trump-aligned super PACs spend millions defending once-safe Republican House seats
MAGA Inc., Trump's main super PAC, reported $300.5M in disbursements through Oct 14 and still held $164.3M, routing $200M to No Going Back PAC and $25M to Safety & Affordability PAC. Safety & Affordability is defending Republicans in AZ-01, ME-02, WI-03, NC-01, OH-10, PA-08, OH-09 and MI-07; No Going Back has spent ~$5M each in MI-04 and NC-11, $14.4M combined in FL-14 and FL-25, and roughly $79M across the MI, OH, NH and NC Senate races. Meanwhile the Congressional Leadership Fund has stopped advertising in IA-01, NJ-07, MI-08 and OH-01.
Source: CNBC (via Kalkine reprint) →October 12, 2026
GOP triage: Senate Leadership Fund pulls out of North Carolina, pours $10M+ into Kansas and $5M into South Carolina
With three weeks to Election Day, the Senate Leadership Fund has suspended its North Carolina ad reservations and redirected at least $10 million into Kansas, where Roger Marshall faces an unexpectedly competitive challenge, plus $5 million to boost Darline Graham in South Carolina. The group has spent more than $100 million in Texas backing Ken Paxton, while the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. super PAC fuels a major GOP cash advantage and American Bridge has put $20M+ into South Carolina, Kansas, Florida, and Mississippi for Democrats.
Source: CNN →October 05, 2026
Senate Leadership Fund pauses North Carolina Senate ads, redirects millions to Kansas
The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican Senate super PAC, paused its ad campaign in North Carolina's Senate race, where GOP nominee Michael Whatley trails Democrat Roy Cooper, and redirected roughly $8-10 million in ad reservations to Kansas to defend Sen. Roger Marshall. The shift, reported by the Associated Press, CBS and NBC, reflects an increasingly defensive GOP Senate strategy. North Carolina remains CNN's top-ranked seat most likely to flip.
Source: CNN →