Verne Strickland Blogmaster / July 27, 2011

By: Associated Press
July 27, 2011

RALEIGH -- Likely Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory has raised more than $1 million for the first half of the year for a campaign that has yet to officially start.

The draft of a campaign finance document being filed with state regulators this week and obtained by The Associated Press shows The Pat McCrory Committee raised just over $1 million between January 1 and June 30. The campaign had $940,000 in the bank at the end of last month.

The amounts are the strongest indication yet McCrory wants a rematch with Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue next year. Perdue narrowly defeated McCrory in 2008.

Perdue hasn't announced her campaign numbers. Candidate committees must turn in their reports by Friday.

http://coastal.news14.com/content/top_stories/644437/likely-gop-candidate-mccrory-raises--1m