(The Center Square) – Raleigh Democrat Roy Cooper’s fundraising advantage over Gastonia Republican Michael Whatley is 3.5 to 1, and his cash advantage on Sept. 30 stood at $12.4 million to $916,000, according to Federal Elections Commission records.

The duo continues to fiercely fight for North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat, with Cooper having positioned himself as the frontrunner financially and in multiple polls since each formally declared in late July 2025. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis a month earlier said he would not seek a third term as his party seeks to win a sixth consecutive race for the chamber since losing to Democrat Kay Hagan in 2008.

Total receipts in the newest update are $47.1 million for Cooper and $13.4 million for Whatley. Also on the ballot with them are Libertarian Shannon Bray of Angier (no report) and the Green Party’s Michael Dublin of Garner ($3,700 cash on hand; $28,000 total receipts).

Absentee ballots mailed by the 100 county boards of election opened the 61-day voting window, longest in the nation, on Sept. 4. Early in-person voting commenced Thursday across the state and runs through Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 3, with polls closing and absentee ballots due into county offices at 7:30 p.m.

This Senate seat was first expected to be as watched as any across the country. There are 35 on the ballot, two of which are special elections, and the importance here has changed a bit with multiple super political action committees changing resources as October began. Whatley’s campaign also shifted its strategy.

Second-term Republican President Donald Trump comes to Greenville on Tuesday to stump for him and other Republicans on the ballot. Former President Barack Obama this week was in campaign ads endorsing Cooper.

The state’s other race in Congress getting heavy scrutiny across the nation is where districts were redrawn in October. General Assembly lawmakers changed the boundaries in the 1st Congressional District and 3rd Congressional District with a state purpose to win the northeastern area in the former, something the party has not done since the 1882 election.

The belief is Grand Old Party support would remain strong enough to stay seated in the 3rd District. Each of the other 12 districts remain unchanged, with Democrats favored to win three urban areas and Republicans poised to take the remainder.

In the 1st Congressional District, totals are unchanged from June 30 for incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Davis of Snow Hill. He has $3.5 million cash on hand and total receipts of $4.2 million. The updated through Sept. 30 totals for Republican Laurie Buckhout of Edenton are $1.8 million cash on hand and total receipts of $4.7 million. Libertarian Tom Bailey of Greensboro does not have a report.

Elsewhere in federal filings:

• 2nd Congressional District: Incumbent Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross of Raleigh has $1.3 million cash on hand and $1.9 million in total receipts. There’s no report for Raleigh Republican Eugene Douglass or Cary Libertarian Matthew Laszacs.

• 3rd Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy of Greenville has more than $2.4 million cash on hand and total receipts of $2.8 million. Democrat Raymond Smith has $73,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $223,000. Lexington Libertarian Daniel Cavender does not have a report.

• 4th Congressional District: Incumbent Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee of Hillsborough has more than $56,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $1 million. Pittsboro Republican Max Ganorkar has nearly $17,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $18,000. There’s no report for Durham Libertarian Guy Meilleur.

• 5th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk has more than $3.4 million cash on hand and total receipts of $2 million. Wilkesboro Democrat Chuck Hubbard has more than $140,000 and cash receipts of $793,000. There’s no report for Ronda Libertarian Robert Luffman.

• 6th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Addison McDowell of Bermuda Run has more than $423,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $1.4 million. High Point Democrat Cyril Jefferson doesn’t have an update yet since June 30; at that time, he had $13,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $199,000.

• 7th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. David Rouzer of Wilmington has $2.1 million cash on hand and total receipts of $2.1 million. Linden Democrat Dr. Kimberly Hardy has $25,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $376,000. Wilmington Libertarian Maad Abu-Ghazalah has less than $300 cash on hand and total receipts of nearly $8,000.

• 8th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Rev. Mark Harris of Indian Trail has $534,000 and total receipts of $1.1 million. Monroe Democrat Colby Watson has $7,400 cash on hand and total receipts of $53,000. The Green Party’s Bo Whitehead of Charlotte does not have a report.

• 9th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of Southern Pines has $1.5 million cash on hand and total receipts of $4 million. Aberdeen Democrat Richard Ojeda has $163,000 and total receipts of $2.2 million.

• 10th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Pat Harrigan of Hickory has $616,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $1.3 million. Winston-Salem Democrat Ashley Bell doesn’t have an update since June 30: at that time, Bell had $26,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $84,000. Libertarian Steve Feldman of Winston-Salem has $1,300 cash on hand and total receipts of $42,000.

• 11th Congressional District: Republican Rep. Jennifer Balkcom of Hendersonville has $295,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $355,000. Fairview Democrat Jamie Ager has $1.6 million cash on hand and total receipts of $5.4 million. There is no report for Greensboro Libertarian Travis Groo.

• 12th Congressional District: Incumbent Democratic Rep. Alma Adams of Charlotte has $493,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $465,000. Charlotte Republican Jack Codiga has less than $3 cash on hand and total receipts of $28,000.

• 13th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Brad Knott of Raleigh has $854,000 cash on hand and total receipts of $1.6 million. Sanford Democrat Paul Barringer has $508,000 cash on hand and $1.1 million in total receipts. Sanford Libertarian Steven Swinton does not have a report.

• 14th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Rep. Tim Moore of Kings Mountain has $1.8 million cash on hand and total receipts of $2 million. Charlotte Democrat Lakesha Womack doesn’t have an update since June 30; she had a cash on hand balance of minus-$375 and total receipts of nearly $25,000.

For candidates without a report, the Federal Elections Commission – if there is at least a name entry on file – in standard repeated language says the reasons could be still processing data; no filing for the time period was made; or the filing deadline (it was Wednesday in this case) hasn’t passed.