The tale of the campaign report (NCGOP edition)

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After scrutinizing Tuesday’s results, a lot of folks from Murphy to Manteo are left scratching their heads wondering “What in the hell did they spend their money on?”

Well, let’s see:

  • $330,000 to the Florida GOP.  
  • Nearly $100K in payroll expense for someone named Marissa Ranieri.  That’s through October 20.  We can’t find any sort of internet footprint tying anyone by that name to the NCGOP.  She doesn’t show up on the staff listing on the NCGOP’s LinkedIn page.  There does not appear to be a publicly available listing of current party staff.  (Call the office, even after hours, and you get an answering service.  No extension directory to work through.) We did happen to find a baby registry page for someone in Raleigh named Marissa Ranieri who is apparently expecting on November 21. 
  • A whopping $825 in October to reimburse Barbara Jackson for direct mail design.  (That’s the only entry we could find regarding Jackson.)  To put that in perspective, the party spent $1837.01 on car rentals.   
  • A fee of $134,436.68 to Persuasion LLC of Raleigh for “consulting.”  Ray Martin, a former aide to Phil Berger, is the LLC’s registered agent. 
  • A fee of $90,500 to America Rising, a DC-area based “opposition research” group.
  • A fee of $166,000 to Causeway Solutions of Louisiana, for “consulting.”
  • A fee of $109,237.66 to Florida-based Consensus Media for “coordinated party expenditures.”
  • A fee of $96,917.50 to Consilium Connect of Raleigh for “fundraising consulting.”
  • $27,000 to Direct Edge of Tennessee for “direct mail design.”
  • $25,000 to Nelson Dollar for House.
  • $112,125 to Pennsylvania-based Harper Polling for “coordinated research.”
  • $40,103.99 to i360 of Baltimore, MD for “data management.”
  • $66,250 to Adcock for House.
  • Majority Strategies of Jacksonville, FL: $175,475.81 for “digital advertising” and $136,606.84 for “direct mail design.”
  • Malleus Political Strategies of Apex: $6,249.86 for “opposition research”
  • Meeting Street Research of Charleston, SC:  $429,500 for “coordinated party expenditures” plus $177,000 for “research”
  • Metro Productions of Raleigh: $55,356.50 for direct mail for Nelson Dollar
  • The Mike Causey Campaign ????  Apparently, it received $240,000 from the party.  (Causey was not on any ballot on Tuesday.)
  • Gary Maloney of Falls Church, VA: $136,742.54 for “research”
  • Kevin Daniels of Beaufort, NC:  $27,000 for “consulting”
  • Matt Bales. NC House political director: $158,119.49 payroll expense through October 20
  • Relyus of Fayetteville, NC: $905,306.53 for printing and postage for direct mail;  PLUS an additional $753,024.40
  • Sauls for North Carolina House:  $116,250
  • Shook Consulting:  $118,621.91 for “consulting services”
  • Singularis Group of Kansas: $71,095.04 for “direct mail design”
  • Stephen Ross Committee:  $49,000
  • Vote Andy Dulin: $70,000
  • $21,000 to Bobby Hanig for House
  • Ward & Smith, PA of New Bern: $63,452.58 for “legal fees”
  • Westmoreland Printers of Shelby: $35,407.62 for “print postage direct mail”