RALEIGH, N.C. — Two outside political groups reported more than $821,000 in new independent expenditures opposing candidates in North Carolina’s 1st and 11th Congressional Districts, federal campaign-finance records show.
Congressional Leadership Fund, known as CLF, reported $530,660.63 for media placement opposing Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis in the 1st District. The committee also reported $13,000 for media production tied to the same race. Both expenditures were dated Oct. 8.
EDF Action Votes reported seven Oct. 9 expenditures totaling $277,341.41 against Republican Jennifer Balkcom in the 11th District. The largest was a $242,000 estimated digital ad buy. The remaining reports covered media production, ad production, digital ad production and research.
Together, the filings total $821,002.04. They were disclosed to the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11. The reports classify the spending as independent expenditures opposing the candidates; they do not measure the communications’ effect on voters.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections lists Davis, Republican Laurie Buckhout and Libertarian Tom Bailey in the 1st District contest. In the 11th District, Balkcom faces Democrat Jamie Ager and Libertarian Travis Groo.
The disclosures add late outside spending to two North Carolina House contests with consequences for the state’s congressional delegation. Reuters included the Davis-Buckhout race in an Oct. 12 national overview of competitive House seats, citing the district’s new boundaries, Davis’ fundraising advantage and earlier spending in the race.
The new reports do not show that either candidate’s campaign coordinated with the outside groups. They provide a snapshot of spending reported on specific dates; later reports, amendments or additional independent expenditures could change the totals.
Sources
- Federal Election Commission independent-expenditure records
- North Carolina State Board of Elections 2026 general-election candidate list
- Reuters: U.S. House races to watch in the 2026 elections
Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0); cropped.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.