The final campaign reports for last fall's elections are starting to come in and they show that Cynthia Matson was at a major funding disadvantage in her bid to win a seat on the Wake County school board.

In Matson's final report filed Tuesday, the Republican-backed candidate reported having raised and spent $13,807.10. Her Democratic opponent in District 5, Jim Martin, hasn't filed his final report yet. But Martin had reported raising $31,534.46 as of Sept. 26.

The biggest contributor in Matson's latest report is conservative businessman Art Pope, who gave $4.000. All five Republican school board candidates have reported receiving donations from Pope except for Venita Peyton, whose final report isn't in yet.

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised a record total of more than $80,000 in her bid to unseat incumbent Kevin Hill.

New campaign finance reports made public today show that Losurdo had reported raising $82,357 through Oct. 24. The prior record was the $79,500 that conservative businessman Bob Luddy had raised, largely out of his own pocket, in his unsuccessful run for the school board in 1997.

Hill’s new report shows he’s raised $42,748 through Oct 24. While Hill has almost half of Losurdo’s total, outside groups not connected to his campaign have spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailers and television ads attacking Losurdo.

SEE END OF POST FOR REACTIONS FROM BOTH CAMPAIGNS

Wake County school board District 6 candidate Donna Williams has narrowed the funding gap between her and Christine Kushner despite having gotten off to a late start.

A new campaign finance report filed this week shows that Williams has raised $41,370.83 as of Sept. 26 with $18,761.70 on hand. Through that same time period, Kushner had raised $50,406.93 with $31,383.11 on hand.

The biggest donors in Williams' new report are the $1,500 from the Northern Wake Republican Club and $1,000 from Dr. James Fulghum.

Ron Margiotta has become only the third person to have raised more than $50,000 in a Wake County school board race.

A new campaign finance report filed this week shows that the incumbent board chairman had raised $52,748.31 as of Sept. 26. He has $31,915.55 on hand in the District 8 race.

Margiotta leads Susan Evans, who had raised $37,524.69 as of Sept. 26 with $21,770.23 on hand. But you also have to keep in mind the thousands of dollars spent by outside groups urging people to support Evans or vote against Margiotta.

The latest round of campaign finance reports show that Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and school board hopeful Jim Martin are off to a good financial start.

According to a report filed July 15, Margiotta reported having raised $8,985 in his bid to win re-election in District 8. His biggest donor at $4,000 was Dr. James Fulghum III, a member of the John Locke Foundation board of directors and a frequent contributor to Republican causes.

Margiotta's next largest donors were retired CPA Harry Eberly at $1,745 and lobbyist/former state GOP House member Connie Wilson at $500.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR INFO ON JIM MARTIN'S DONORS

Businessmen Art Pope and Jim Goodmon are out in the financial forefront when it comes to backing candidates for Wake County Board of Commissioners.

As noted in today's article, the latest round of campaign reports show that  Pope and his family have given at least $32,000 to Republican candidates for commissioner. Campaign reports also show that Goodmon and his wife have given at least $13,000 to Democratic candidates for commissioner.

“It’s a contributor referendum on the school board,” said Democratic candidate Jack Nichols.