How North Carolina lawmakers used marketing campaign funds in 2025

RALEIGH

In North Carolina, lawmakers earn an annual salary far below the national average — despite spending a significant, and often unpredictable, amount of time in Raleigh every year for legislative sessions.

While they are also given public funding to pay some of their expenses, it’s not uncommon to see lawmakers dip into campaign funds to pay for things like rent, meals and travel.

The News & Observer conducted an analysis of all campaign spending by state lawmakers in 2025 to determine to what extent funds are used for these sorts of expenses.

The N&O found that 17 lawmakers — including the Republican leaders of the House and Senate — reported using campaign funds to pay rent in 2025, with some spending over $25,000 on the expense. In total, lawmakers spent just over $190,000 on rent.

That analysis did not include spending on items specifically identified as rent for office spaces or storage units.

As for travel, lawmakers spent a combined total of over $380,000 in 2025 on expenses like gas, hotels and conference fees. This figure also includes meals specifically marked as having been bought while travelling.

Lawmakers also spent about $280,000 total on food and beverage costs, a figure which includes individual meals as well as food for events, like fundraisers.

The N&O reached out to lawmakers identified as the top spenders in each category. Most did not respond by publication.

Rep. Jake Johnson, a Columbus Republican who serves as deputy majority whip, was one of the top spenders on travel — spending about $18,000 last year. He told The N&O that number makes sense to him, in part because he was one of the top fundraisers in his caucus.

“I think it is also worth noting that we had a very competitive and expensive primary that required us to travel attending events and raising money,” Johnson said. “At 31, I am one of our only members who is not married and does not have kids, so when it comes to policy conferences, educational and fundraising events, I am at a life stage where I have a little bit more flexibility to travel on short notice and represent our state there.”

Graig Meyer — who resigned from his role as a Democratic state representative at the end of March to join the North Carolina Justice Center as its next executive director — was a top spender on meals in 2025, spending $10,641.

He said in a text message that almost all of that spending was for fundraisers: one for his campaign, one for Justice Anita Earls, and another for Rep. Rodney Pierce, a Democrat from Roanoke Rapids.

How we reported this story: The N&O used the state’s Board of Elections website to download campaign finance data filtered to include candidate committees and N.C. House and Senate filings from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2025. After downloading the data, The N&O grouped expenses by type, ensuring no payment was counted more than once in a category.