Moments before the N.C. House began debating a contentious abortion-related bill last week, Speaker Thom Tillis exited for the campaign trail.
The leading Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate traveled to Charlotte for a campaign fundraiser where donors paid as much as $2,600 to meet him.
Tillis entered the race in May, vowing to stay focused on his job. But just weeks later, he finds himself pulled in competing directions and raising money from donors interested in legislation.
As a legislator, Tillis is prohibited under state law from raising money from lobbyists or companies and organizations with lobbyists during the lawmaking session.
The ban, however, doesn’t apply to federal candidates – meaning Tillis can solicit U.S. Senate campaign cash even as he influences major state legislation, such as a tax overhaul, the state budget and industry regulations. As speaker, Tillis sets the House agenda, deciding in large part which bills live and which die.
Running parallel to the campaign effort, a super PAC supporting Tillis’ candidacy, Grow NC Strong, is soliciting checks not subject to federal donation limits.
The Tillis campaign’s fundraising strategist, Jonathan Brooks of Macon Consulting, is also collecting money for the super PAC. Under federal rules, the two entities aren’t permitted to coordinate messages and strategy, but they can blend the fundraising operations, campaign attorney Roger Knight said.
Ahead of Sunday’s fundraising period deadline – the first for Tillis to show he is a viable candidate – the campaign put an emphasis on banking donors with three events last week in three cities over a three-day span. The events were hosted by more than 30 of the state’s most prominent Republican donors.
The Raleigh hosts included Bob Ingram, former chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, John Kane, who developed North Hills, and builder John Coley.
The hosts for all three events combined to give an estimated $125,000, according to invitations. With a $250 minimum donation for the event, the total haul likely will total much more.
Interested in legislation
A number of the top donors are advocating for legislation this session. Royce Everette, a co-host for the Greenville event, is one the state’s largest consumer finance lenders. He helped direct $1.8 million for lobbying and campaign donations in an effort to convince lawmakers to approve legislation that increases profits for the industry, the Associated Press reported.
The fundraiser came days after the industry’s bill to raise loan interest rates and fees won legislative approval and Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law.
Everette said his donation was not directly tied to the legislation, adding that he has supported Tillis for years. “If you have a person who you think is a good person, you try to support them,” Everette told the AP. “That’s the way it goes. Thom Tillis is a good person. Did he help us? Yes. So I support him.”
Everette’s mother, Gail Blanton, another lending industry executive, hosted a fundraiser for Tillis’ legislative campaign in 2011 that brought in $30,000, campaign finance reports show.
Even though federal fundraising during session is legal, Bob Phillips at Common Cause, a Raleigh nonprofit that advocates for diminishing the role of money in politics, said it looks bad for Tillis to raise money from people with an interest in state legislation.
“I’m not saying (Tillis) is leveraging his office for more money, but it creates a perception out there that some folks are getting an advantage,” he said.
Tillis was not available for comment. But his political consultant, Paul Shumaker, dismissed concerns about Tillis soliciting donors who have interests pending in the legislature.
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