North Carolina GOP Owes $72k in Debt After Burning Through Cash

The North Carolina Republican Party has accrued $72,000 in debts, according to its latest financial disclosure.

According to the latest filing by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the party owes $72,197.27 to various sources and has also spent more than it raised and used up its cash reserves. The FEC data does not disclose the specific entities that the party is indebted to.

The report was filed on Monday and detailed the party's finances between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, and comes as the wider Republican party has been hit with financial difficulties.

In this period, the party received $1,681,647.87, with the majority ($1,397,524.22) coming from campaign contributions and other funds from transfers from affiliated committees and other sources. It spent $2,194,157.61, with the bulk of its spending ($2,118.243.34) going on operating expenditures. Without relying on its cash reserves, the party would have been left with -$512,509.74.

But the party had $795,416.46 cash at the start of the period. By using its cash reserves to settle the difference, at the end of the period, it had $282,906.73.

Newsweek contacted the North Carolina Republican Party by email to comment on this story.

At the end of November 2023, the Republican National Committee (RNC), which is the GOP governing body, reported its lowest bank balance at that point in any year since 2016, disclosures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) revealed Wednesday. With $9.96 million in spending money, the RNC had less than half the $21.35 million it reported in 2016 after Donald Trump won the presidential election.

Despite these dwindling funds, the RNC spent some $250,000 on limos over 12 months.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Democratic Party also has debts and loans, to the tune of $15,235.06. However, it's in a better state financially as it ended the same reporting period with more cash on hand than it started with, increasing its reserves from $599,799.89 to $672,299.91. In the period, it received $2,155,590.93 and spent $2,083,070.82.

The southeastern U.S. state is considered a battleground state ahead of the 2024 presidential election. There, political contests have often thrown up narrow victories. In the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump won with just 49.9 percent of the vote to his Democrat rival Joe Biden's 48.6 percent. The House of Representatives and Senate elections were also tight, and as the November election looms, Biden earlier this month visited the state to set out his stall, announcing investment in high-speed internet for rural communities in the state.

"I promised to be president for all America, whether you voted for me or not. These investments help all Americans in red states and blue states as well. We're not leaving anybody behind," he said.