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.

Wake County school board candidate Cynthia Matson is still at a serious fundraising disadvantage in the District 5 race.

Matson's latest campaign finance report, filed Friday, shows she had raised $8,517.10 as of Sept. 26 with $2,132.38 on hand. Jim Martin had already raised more than $26,000 through the end of August.

The biggest donor in the new report was the $500 from the Northern Wake Republican Club. She also got donations from Raleigh City Council candidate Brian Tinga's campaign committee, the Western Wake Republican Club, Wake County school board member John Tedesco and Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley.

Bob Luddy's earlier $4,000 donation covers close to half of her campaign war chest. Click here for Matson's latest report.