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Rep. William Wainwright died earlier this month with big bucks left in his campaign account. The 11-term Democrat was one of the richest (campaign-wise) members of the House minority party with $143,874.65 in his coffer.

But not all of the donor money will get funneled to the House Democratic caucus after his death. House Democrats will get $47,479 -- or 33 percent. An equal portion will go to the A.M.E. Zion Church and another 33 percent his local Craven County Democratic Party.

The disbursement of funds are designated in a form Wainwright filed Feb. 15 with the N.C. State Board of Elections. State lawmakers file the document when reporting campaign funds. Wainwright's three-way disbursement mirrors a form filed in March 2010. He served as his committee's treasurer but appointed Sheila Godette as the designated agent for his campaign account upon his death.

A look inside the campaign finance reports filed this week shows why Republican Pat McCrory is dominating the money race: Walter Dalton started the general election with nothing in the bank.

The Democratic candidate's primary contest with Bob Etheridge and Bill Faison cost him just about everything in his campaign account. Dalton entered 2012 with $590,000 in the bank and raised $887,000 in the primary. But he spent roughly $1.5 million to win his party's nomination.

At the end, Dalton's campaign spent what it took to win, including about $670,000 for a television commercial and another approximately $70,000 for direct mailings to voters. In the same amount of time, he raised just $230,000.

Democrat Walter Dalton and Republican Pat McCrory have raised a total of $9 million between Jan. 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, in their gubernatorial campaign.

Go here to find an interactive map and compare the amounts each candidate has raised and the number of contributors by clicking on a county. Also search for individual contributors by using the database tool below.

Democrat Walter Dalton raised $1 million in the latest campaign finance period -- but he starts the final months of the gubernatorial campaign in a huge deficit compared to Republican Pat McCrory.

Dalton's campaign reported $714,000 in campaign coffers starting July 1. He raised a total of $2.5 million since launching his campaign at the 11th hour thanks to Gov. Bev Perdue's late decision not to seek re-election. But Dalton spent $1.8 million so far to survive the Democratic primary.

The report covers April 20 through June 30 and it's unclear how much he raised since the primary ended May 8.

McCrory reported raising $2.2 million in the same period and sits with $4.4 million in his campaign account. Dalton essentially finds himself in McCrory's shoes circa-2008, when McCrory lost to Perdue. At this point in 2008, McCrory raise just shy of $1 million and had $726,000 on hand.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney raised nearly $1.7 million in North Carolina from 14,000 donors in June, according to a GOP source. That was part of $106.1 million that Romney raised nationally last month for his campaign and Republican coffers.

Robert Reid, state spokesman for the Romney campaign, said the financial backing reflected wide support in the state for the former Massachusetts governor.

“President Obama may think eight percent unemployment is a 'step in the right direction,' but for the 435,000 unemployed North Carolinians the Obama economy is a disaster,” Reid said. “The truth has continued to hurt President Obama in North Carolina and around the country. Mitt Romney's policies to grow our economy and create jobs is clearly growing enthusiasm for his candidacy across North Carolina and across the country.''

Republican Pat McCrory will report a $4.4 million war chest this week, enough to give his campaign for governor a huge financial advantage entering the final four months of the campaign.

McCrory added $2.2 million in contributions in the second quarter, according to campaign officials, with 98 percent from North Carolina donors.

His Democratic rival Walter Dalton has yet to offer a glimpse at his fundraising totals from April 21 through June 30. The candidates must file campaign finance disclosure forms by Wednesday.

A nonprofit conservative political group is buttressing efforts by Mitt Romney and a Republican super PAC to label President Barack Obama as "out of touch."

Americans for Prosperity debuted a new TV ad in political swing states Wednesday -- including North Carolina -- that repeats Obama's comment that the "private sector is doing fine." (In fact, the ad puts the line on remix and repeats it three times.)

Dallas Woodhouse, state director for AFP, said the group spent $1 million to air the ad in all North Carolina TV markets. The ad is the 19th in the presidential election, including two new ones from Obama Wednesday.

Ten state legislators will benefit from a $321,600 advertising campaign planned by a new super PAC backed by business-interest money.

The Carolina Business Coalition Education Fund in a June 4 report filed with the state Board of Elections said it had received $350,000 in May from the Carolina Business Coalition, whose board membership includes executives from Dole Foods, Reynolds American, a former BB&T executive, a former GlaxoWellcome CEO and the textile company Glen Raven Inc. Former Gov. Jim Martin is also on the board.

The new independent expenditure committee indicated it had spent $321,660 on the 10 incumbent members of the General Assembly, all but one of whom are Republicans. The amounts to each candidate range from $2,754 (to the sole Democrat, Sen. Michael Walters of Hoke and Robeson counties) up to $61,128 for Sen. Neal Hunt of Raleigh.

Other Triangle lawmakers who benefited include Rep. Tom Murry of Morrisville ($44,415) and Rep. Mike Stone of Sanford ($7,164). In the $45,000-range were Rep. Bryan Holloway of King, Sen. Jim Davis of Franklin, and Rep. Tim Moffitt of Asheville.

So-called super PACs can raise and spend unlimited money to help elect or defeat candidates, so long as they don’t coordinate their efforts with candidates’ campaigns. This new super PAC was first reported on by BlueNC.com, a liberal website.

A new super PAC has joined the race for N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Paul M. Newby's seat, supporing the incumbent over appeals court Judge Sam Ervin IV. (Yes, that Sam Ervin -- well, his grandson.) Read about it here.