How a new campaign spending law could boost controversial North Carolina Trump ally Mark Robinson

North Carolina's firebrand GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson may see a cash windfall from deep-pocketed donors and allies of former President Donald Trump.

That's because the Tar Heel State's legislature, made up of a Republican supermajority, proposed and passed complex campaign finance reforms that could open the door for out-of-state donors to direct large sums to candidates inside the state.

Democrats are blasting GOP lawmakers for the move, telling USA TODAY the new rules would give Republican candidate and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson a boost amid a heated election cycle in perhaps the most closely watched governor's race in the country.

“Legislative Republicans are changing the rules in the middle of the game,” said Morgan Jackson, a longtime North Carolina Democratic consultant.

Criticism from the left centers around concern that wealthy allies of Trump will be able to contribute to Robinson as Republicans seek to control North Carolina's governorship and legislature. The GOP gubernatorial candidate received Trump’s coveted endorsement, and he likewise backed the presumptive Republican nominee, in a state many have eyed as a presidential battleground.

A spokesman for Robinson’s campaign declined to comment to USA TODAY.

Republicans take aim at North Carolina's campaign finance limits

Along with removing the cap for federal dollars funneled to state candidates, the proposed changes would obscure the original source of the donation, adding fuel to the fire as Republicans and Democrats fight over the potential legislation.

“Basically, you would end up in a place where the contributions that are coming through get washed through so many hands that you have to follow the money backwards,” Jackson said. “And by the time ... you could actually say who the donor was that contributed this massive amount of money, the election would be over.”

Jackson and fellow Democrats claimed Republicans are moving to increase donor anonymity due to Robinson’s history of controversial statements, including his implied support for a national abortion ban and endorsement of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

“Mark Robinson is so uniquely dangerous for North Carolina that even many Republicans are increasingly concerned about supporting him,” Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, alleged, adding she believes counterparts at the Republican Governors Association are “likely hearing this from major GOP donors everyday.”

The Republican Governors Association did not respond to requests for comment.

But Republicans aren't the only ones who could take advantage of additional revenue sources this election cycle.

After all, the proposal would also allow for increased federal donations to candidates on the left, meaning national Democrats could tap wealthy donors on behalf of Robinson's opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein.

Still, Jackson told USA TODAY, “This is not something that Democrats asked for or knew was coming.”

Much of their frustration comes as Stein holds a sizeable fundraising advantage over Robinson, $19 million to $11 million, and Democrats worry the change would allow the Republican candidate to catch up.

"They (the Stein campaign) haven't really needed to take down the guardrails in this way,” said Western Carolina University political science professor Christopher Cooper. “The Democrats feel like it was changing rules in the middle of the game, when the Democrats were winning the game.”

“The current guidelines don't appear to have hurt Stein in any way,” Cooper continued. “And there's a general sense that it will be more likely to help Robinson.”

Republicans in the state, though, say they are just leveling the playing field, citing a previous decision by the State Board of Elections in 2020 about how federal political committees can operate in North Carolina that they say gave an edge to Democratic-leaning groups.

“This change restores parity in campaign finance laws and shows, once again, why partisan control over election administration in North Carolina must end,” the North Carolina GOP said in a statement. 

Stein takes first swing: Democratic candidate hits GOP rival for saying women didn't keep 'skirt down' during abortion comments

Still, Democrats who have garnered national attention in state-level races have previously benefitted from a wide range of donations. For example, when Stacey Abrams ran for governor in Georgia in 2018, she received about a third of her campaign funds from Peach State residents, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Robinson vs. Stein: The state of the race

Regardless of Stein’s financial edge, he and Robinson remain in a tight contest.

Theirs mirrors the race at top of the ticket, between Trump and President Joe Biden, which is expected to come down to a narrow margin of victory. Cook Political Report has designated the state's gubernatorial election a tossup.

"We are right on the razor's edge between red and blue,” Cooper said. "We were an extremely competitive battleground before this, we're an extremely competitive battleground after this.”

And Cooper said Trump donors utilizing the new opening to bolster Trump and his allies in the state is a real possibility.

“Robinson and Trump have clearly, each one has endorsed the other," he said. “Robinson will often appear with a MAGA hat atop his head, and Trump has called Robinson the next Martin Luther King, Jr. So, they're in some ways running on a very similar ticket. So, it makes sense to me that that they're going to share campaign donors.”

Democrats decry process as bill moves along

Democrats aren't just criticizing the contents of the campaign finance proposal. They've also come out against how the proposal was introduced, which was through an attachment to an entirely unrelated bill on wearing masks in public.

“This was a surprise,” Cooper said of the campaign finance push. “So (the change) could have been about recognizing Mickey Mouse as the official mouse of North Carolina, and it still probably would have drawn some ire from Democrats just because of the way it was done.”

The bill passed the North Carolina House Tuesday, following the state Senate’s approval the week prior, and it now heads to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk where it faces an almost certain veto.

However, Republicans are expected to try to override the governor with their supermajority in the state's legislature.

“It's not a certainty,” Cooper of Western Carolina University said. “But it's a strong possibility.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How a new campaign funding law could boost a N.C. Trump ally