The N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation has early fundraising numbers for the Republican and Democratic parties in North Carolina:
In the first half of 2011, the North Carolina Democratic Party reported raising $428,234.97, while the North Carolina Republican Party reported raising slightly more, with $440,901.97. This fundraising parity between the parties at the early stages of the election cycle is not unprecedented, but it has been a decade since the GOP held its own against its political rivals out of the gate. (Although, the Republican Party spent most of its funds and ended the reporting period on June 30 with just over $58,000 in the bank, the Democratic Party closed out the first six months of 2011 with just over $254,000 on hand.)
For the past 10 years, the Democratic Party has consistently started off the election cycle with a sizeable edge in campaign cash. That disparity usually persisted throughout the election cycle, and some years grew larger as Election Day approached. For example, during the 2008 election cycle, the Democratic Party raised nearly three times as much as the Republican Party during the first six months of that cycle ($499,552 to $173,531). By the end of the 2008 election, the Democratic Party outraised the GOP by almost four times ($11,074,275 to $2,811,346).
